BIG UPDATE - it's now or never to fund our new building. Please read! We are thrilled to announce that we’ve found our new home! It's a stunning space: a twin pair of railway arches in East London. But we need to fundraise to make it happen, link in bio. We've done extensive financial modelling and know there's a long, secure future for us in this new premises. But the protracted premises search and being unable to raise funds while closed has proved costly and dug the museum deep into our reserves. We need a substantial cash injection now. This is a now-or-never situation: we need to raise £85,000 by the beginning of June in order to pull this off. Otherwise, we're not going to be able to survive beyond a few months, and all activities, including on this account, will cease. We can see this bright future in front of us. A long lease in a premises with space for three exhibitions at once, an events room and the possibility of expanding to include a cafe. We're so close. We just need your help to get us over the line. To help, you can donate to our crowdfunding page. Any donation makes a difference. We know the Vagina Museum means a lot to so many people, so any donation you can afford truly makes a difference. If you're considering making a large donation and would like more information, drop us an email; our contact is in our bio. Please also reach out if you're considering raising funds. We don't check our DMs frequently, so email is best. We also have a sale in our online shop: get 10% off with the code GETUSANEWHOME - all proceeds go towards securing this dream home! The sale is active until 2nd June - our deadline for this campaign. Share this message with the world - we know that the Vagina Museum means a lot to you, and that's why you're here. Tell your friends and family how we've touched your life, and why this museum matters to you. With the amazing community we have around us, we're optimistic that this campaign will succeed. We know that most people would hate to see the Vagina Museum disappear from the world and want to see it flourish and thrive. Help take us all the way. #vaginamuseum #charityappeal

"Carmen Bastián" by Marià Fortuny Marsal, circa 1871-72. Courtesy of Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

Wake up, babe, new devastating insult just dropped... Illustration of Geo Tieman's Universal Douche from "Lectures on the physiological laws of life, hygiene, and a general outline of diseases peculiar to females" by Henry S. Cunningham, 1882. (please don't douche)

Figure "drawn after nature" by Jean Jacques Lequeu (1757-1826). As well as being "drawn after nature", this illustration is also labelled "black woman", so we're not sure how much this really was painted from a model... Courtesy of Bibliothèque nationale de France

Vulva graffiti in Gothenburg, 2012. Image credit: INGÅNG #graffiti #streetart #gothenburg

"Jealousy, between girls addicted to the vice of sapphism, often causes quarrels, and sometimes real duels, in which the most used weapon is the bun comb" Illustration of a fight in a lesbian brothel, which appeared in "La prostitution contemporaine" by Leo Taxil, in 1884. The book claimed to be an in-depth study of sex work in the nineteenth century but some of these details seem rather dubious! Courtesy of Wellcome Images

Illustration showing the main blood vessels of the vulva. The greater vestibular glands are also highlighted. Also called Bartholin's glands, this pair of glands on either side of the opening of the vagina secrete a fluid when you're aroused - these are the WAP glands! From An Atlas of Anatomy by JCB Grant, 1962. #anatomy

"In the Hammock" by Zygmunt Waliszewski, 1917. National Museum in Warsaw. #summermood

"The Bath House" by Zinaida Serebryakova, 1913. Russian Museum. #artbywomen

Illustration in a 1920 edition of "Les Liaisons dangereuses" (Dangerous Liaisons) - the 1920s version of the kiss in Cruel Intentions, an adaptation of the story! By Georges Barbier.

"The Sofa" by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, before 1896. Courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art. #toulouselautrec

1861 illustration of the pelvic organs and external genitalia. The caption "The outer and inner lips of the private parts" may not sound especially scientific, and that's because the book it's in wasn't aimed at medics or scientists - its intended audience was ordinary people. It had a delightfully lengthy 19th century title: "The book of nature : containing information for young people who think of getting married : on the philosophy of procreation and sexual intercourse, showing how to prevent conception and to avoid child-bearing : also, rules for management during labor and child-birth". It was written by James Ashton and contained information about anatomy, sexual health and sexual wellbeing.