Let’s talk about sex – Teaching contemporary sex education using historical objects at the British Museum

Melany Rose, Chloe Cooper und Gareth Esson, British Museum

 

 

The British Museum’s permanent and core-funded relationships and sex education workshops for 11-18 year old school students aim to confront the past, provoke the present and defy the white-supremacist, heteronormative patriarchy! Developed by artist Chloe Cooper and Education Manager Melany Rose, these sessions use objects within the permanent collection to teach participants about sexualities and gender identities across cultures and throughout time. The most recent focus has been on objects which connect pre-colonial and post-colonial ideas of sexuality and gender. Working with Sexual Health, Relationships and Wellbeing Education Consultant Gareth Esson, one of the most recent concerns was to find out how objects in the African collection can be used to challenge the attitude of being gay or gender nonconforming as being “Un-African”.
This talk seeks to share some of the approaches taken (including object-enquiry and creative activities), the objects used and the ways in which museum education and sex education are integrated within a context that is mindful and critical of many of the objects‘ colonial legacies.

 

Vortrag und Diskussion (auf Englisch, ohne Übersetzung) per Livestream.