"Sex in Roman Times" on display until 15 June

05/04/2018

The exhibition “Sex in Roman Times” was inaugurated on 5 April at the Journals building of the Humanities Library and will be on display until 15 June. It is organised and produced by the Archaeological Museum of Catalonia and was created and commissioned by the Museum of Badalona.

The exhibition, aimed at an adult audience, consists of a set of pieces from the Roman Era conserved in museums around Catalonia; reproductions of often very explicit paintings, and texts written in Latin. The pieces give an idea of the sexual universe of ancient Rome, from the Republic all the way up to the 4th century CE. The exhibition is divided into five large areas: sex within the marriage, different ways of making love, extramarital relations, the art of seduction and sexuality of the gods, with whom humans sought to resemble.

Famous quotes from Ovid, Seneca, Plautus and Suetonius will serve to contextualise the pieces on exhibit and give visitors an insight into the intimate life of ancient Romans. The exhibit pieces include religious and ritual objects, things that were displayed in the private and public spheres, such as the "Venus of Badalona", the "Bilbilis Vase" (Calatayud), and the "Sasamon Phallus", as well as an extensive collection of erotic lamps.

“Sex in Roman Times" is the first exhibition to be produced by the Arqueoxarxa and the Network of Museums and Archaeological Sites of Catalonia, of which the UAB forms part with its numerous archaeology and palaeontology campuses. The main objective of this exhibition is to bring Catalonia's archaeological heritage nearer to visitors with some eighty pieces belonging to different archaeological collections from around Catalonia.

Apart form the exhibition there will be a set of talks on the different thematic areas included, all taking place in the hall in from of the Prehistory and Anthropology departments.

The initiative, which forms part of the celebrations of the European Year of Cultural Heritage, has been organised by the Faculty of Arts and the UAB-CIE's CORE in Cultural Heritage. It is part of the activities organised in celebration of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and the UAB's 50th anniversary, and includes the collaboration of the Humanities Library, the Office of the Vice Rector for Institutional Relations and Culture and Cultura en Viu.

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