Ooo-la-la at the Library.
Although the French are noted for their naughty postcards and titillating novels, since the 1830s the most explicit erotica in France has been locked away in the National Library.
Until now.
The collection, known as l’Enfer or hell, contains more than 1,700 prints, licentious photographs, drawings, and writings – including manuscripts by the Marquis de Sade – many of which were confiscated in police raids.
In what has to be the most inventive marketing campaign for a library exhibition ever, an abandoned metro station has been decked out with risque posters that can be glimpsed through blowing curtains as the train slowly passes by. The station is on Line Ten, between Sevres-Babylon and Mabillon.
"Hell at the Library, Eros in Secret" runs until March 2, 2008 at the Francois Mitterand National Library. Leave the kids at home – those under 16 are not permitted. And you should probably avoid Cialis for a couple of days before attending.
Information (in French) is available at http://www.bnf.fr/pages/cultpubl/exposition_731.htm
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