secretums

The Barbican is currently exhibiting: Seduced: Art & Sex from antiquity to now. Bit of a mouthful, but perhaps that's the point. I'm going to skip the lengthy review (it is what it is - if they stick it in a thick book, it'll be a great resource) and instead give you a quickie:

I learned a new word: Secretum (secret museum).

"The Secretum was a name given to Cupboard 55 in the Department of Medieval and Later Antiquities at the British Museum, London. It previously contained the collection of ancient erotica given to the museum by George Witt. Inaccessible by the public, it was a repository for exhibits of an erotic nature."

Basically Britain's biggest porn stash.

But I love the idea of a Secretum. In the West, the idea of hidden content has become a vague wisp of foreplay we enjoyed some time in the Eighties. Nothing is exclusive any more. The final nail was probably when T-Mobile launched their 'secret gigs', which were btw promoted on Myspace.

I'm all for openness: Dopplr-ing this, twittering that, FFFFinding and sharing etc - up to a point. But I also long for a spattering of Secretums too (with or without erotic etchings in them). I only ask that if you find one... you don't tell me, or anyone else about it.