Sex museum is moving, but it’s not due to moral police

Antarang, Mumbai’s only one, is aimed at spreading awareness among sex workers about HIV/AIDS

The state’s on-and-off moral policing notwithstanding, the city’s only sex museum, Antarang, has been educating the young and old about the human body, sexuality and AIDS for the last five years. And now, it’s moving to a new home in Wadala—not due to a fresh controversy but because its old home in the red-light district of Kamathipura shows up leaks and moss-laden staircases every monsoon.

The clinic-cum-museum on Belassis Road was the brainchild of Grant Medical College alumnus and artist Prakash Sarang. Primarily, the idea was to educate and raise awareness levels among sex workers regarding HIV/AIDS issues. But since its inception—and despite periodic protests by a scandalised moral police—the museum has managed to attract over 16,500 visitors that include school and college students.

But every monsoon, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation-run museum has to shut for three months as the building where it is housed cannot withstand the ravages of Mumbai showers. This time, instead of reopening here, Antarang will move to Wadala Acworth Leprosy Hospital complex where Mumbai District Aids Control Society (MDACS) is based.

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“During monsoons, the roof starts leaking and also moss grows on the wooden stairs leading to the gallery. The building is old and to stop further damage, the museum is shut for monsoons,” explained M G Valecha, chief medical officer at the STI (sexually transmitted infections) clinic in the same building.

MDACS project director Nirupa Borges said the dilapidated nature of the building at Kamathipura is a hindrance to introducing new models or exhibits highlighting, say, new methods in the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

But in spite of its disadvantages, the museum has turned out to be a boon for several schools and colleges who regularly organise conducted tours of its students.

Many associated with the museum are, however, not keen to shift out of its Kamathipura location for long. While Valecha feels shifting could damage the models, NGOs working with CSWs feel the move will distance the museum from those who could benefit from it most.

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However, BMC’s Additional Commissioner Kishor Gajbiye said ultimately the museum would come back to its original locality but in a new building. “The museum is now being shut due to rains,” he said.