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Eros in Asia: Erotic Art from Iran to Japan

February 20, 2009 – June 26, 2009

Unknown artist, China
Man and woman in bed, with attendant, c.1750
Gouache on paper; 218P A003.1
Donated in 1969

Bloomington, Indiana.  Eros in Asiais the first exhibition from The Kinsey Institute to highlight its extensive collection of erotic artwork from across the Asian continent.  In the 1940s and 1950s, Dr. Alfred Kinsey actively collected visual materials from around the world, to enable him to study sexual behavior and attitudes in countries such as China, India, Iran, and Japan.  Since that time the institute has continued to acquire paintings, prints, illustrated books, sculptures, and art objects from Asian countries, each of which has its unique artistic traditions and genres for the visual representation of sexuality. 

A public reception for Eros in Asia will be held on Friday, February 20, from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm.  This event is free and open to the public.  Refreshments will be provided.

Lecture—Friday, February 20th, 12:30 pm, Morrison 007

Dr. Christiane J. Gruber will present a slide lecture titled "Of Beardless Youths, Courtesans, and Voyeurs: Modern Persian Erotica in the Kinsey Institute."  Audience members will be invited to view the exhibition following the talk.  Dr. Gruber, an art historian at Indiana University, studies Iranian art and Islamic visual culture.

The Kinsey Institute Gallery is open 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm weekdays or by appointment.   Admission is free.  Visitors should be 18 years of age or older, unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.  

The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction     

Morrison Hall / Indiana University / Bloomington, Indiana 47405

812-855-7686 / FAX 812-855-8277 / kinsey@indiana.edu

www.kinseyinstitute.org

Unknown artist, Iran
Man and woman engaged in coitus on a swing, early 20th century
Paint on paper; 172R A005b; Donated in 1981

 PRIDE Film Festival at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater

January 29-31, 2009

BLOOMINGTON, IN —The PRIDE Film Festival is a cinematic celebration of the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgendered community in Bloomington, IN.  A program of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, a historic downtown movie palace, the Festival features over 20 films from all over the world – shorts and features, animation, documentaries, comedy, and drama.  Social gatherings and dance parties abound at different restaurants and bars nearby, while other community organizations are involved from start to finish.  Founded in 2004, PRIDE films are chosen by an all volunteer Steering Committee, and dedicated individuals create a welcoming, carnival atmosphere throughout the weekend, making it truly "Your Claim to Flame!"  For ticket pricing, schedule, and updates, please visit http://pridefilmfestival.org .

 In 2009, the 6^th Annual PRIDE Film Festival is part of the Indiana University GLBT Alumni Association's Homecoming Weekend, and is sponsored in part by the Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau's "Visit Gay Bloomington" initiative.  Other highlights this year include:

            - Particularly diverse film programming, focusing on films from around the world

             - A special free screening and community discussion of the film "Gay? So What!"   by Jean Baptiste Erreca on Saturday afternoon examining the questions of integration, assimilation, and a "post gay" world

             - IU GLBTAA sponsors the "Alumni Lounge" in the balcony during the Saturday night Closing Party, with drinks, appetizers and a special Chocolate Bar by BLU Boy Chocolates

            - Closing Night Party, Sat, Jan 31^st  - Erotic Attire Encouraged

Affiliated Events Around Town:

            - The Kinsey Institute's Gallery exhibit:  Pre-Revolutionary Queer: Gay Art and Culture Before Stonewall, October 24, 2008 - February 14, 2009. 

See www.kinseyinstitute.org for more information

Time for the FIRST-EVER IU GLBT Homecoming Weekend.  Here's a schedule of events, all of which allow you to catch all activities associated with the PRIDE Film Festival!

 Magazine ranks Bloomington as the nation’s No. 1 small town vacation destination for gays

By Dann Denny 331-4350 | ddenny@heraldt.com
November 4, 2008

Bloomington, which in recent years has garnered widespread attention as the country’s No. 1 party school, has now grabbed a new honor.

“The Advocate,” a news magazine for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender community, has ranked Bloomington the nation’s No. 1 small town gay vacation destination on its online Web site.

The site says the reason Bloomington registers so high on its “gaydar” is because it’s “an accepting, forward-thinking, progressive college town.”

“Filled with hip cafes and funky stores, Bloomington markets its many merits to lesbian and gay travelers,” the Web site says.

“We’re thrilled,” said Rob DeCleene, director of tourism at the Monroe County Convention and Visitors Bureau, which has made a concerted effort in recent years to market Bloomington as a community friendly to gays and lesbians. “It’s another affirmation that our efforts to attract the gay travel market are paying off.”

DeCleene said in 2005, the bureau promoted Bloomington as a gay-friendly community by launching a Web site — www.visitgaybloomington.com — and printing 3,000 GLBT visitor guides, which it distributed throughout the region.

“The guides and Web site not only point out the same attractions we market to everyone — things like wineries, museums, art galleries and restaurants — but point out that they will feel comfortable and accepted if they visit here,” he said.

The Web site says Bloomington has the nation’s fifth largest per capita population of same-sex couples, adding that “whether you’re gay, straight or somewhere in between, Bloomington offers something rarely found in this country — a small town with a bold history of openness and acceptance.”

“It’s obvious that gay and lesbians enjoy living here,” he said. “So it would stand to reason that other members of the gay and lesbian community would enjoy visiting here — and spending money here.”

Supplementing the Web site and guides, DeCleene said, have been a number of gay-friendly events and conferences on the IU campus — most notably the annual Pride Film Festival at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, a three-day event feature GLBT-themed films.

“Bloomington gets a lot of national attention because it’s one of the few small Midwestern towns going after this market,” DeCleene said. “There have been many magazine and newspaper articles pointing this out, and Tina Fey mentioned Bloomington being gay friendly a couple years ago on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update.”

Doug Bauder, coordinator of IU’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Student Support Services office, said the ranking “speaks very well to the commitment to diversity at all levels in this community.”

He lauded the Monroe County Convention and Visitors Bureau’s efforts to capture a larger share of the gay travel market, and said his office also has helped enhance Bloomington’s attractiveness to the gay and lesbian community.

“We’ve been able to include sexual diversity in the diversity dialogue on campus,” he said. “Many people don’t think beyond color when it comes to diversity, and I think we’ve been able to expand their thinking to include sexual diversity.”

Bauder said his office’s efforts have been made easier in a community “where the Kinsey Institute has a noble history of valuing sexual diversity.”

Bauder said his office, which he’s directed since its inception in 1994, has helped transform sexual diversity from a clinical issue into a practical reality.

“We’ve helped people realize this is not just an issue to be studied but a reality in peoples’ lives that needs to be incorporated into the life of the community,” he said.

(article originally published in Bloomington Herald-Times, November 4, 2008)

 Pre-Revolutionary Queer: Gay Art and Culture Before Stonewall

Take advantage of this opportunity to see two terrific exhibits currently featured at the Kinsey Institute Gallery.  Here are the details:

Sex and Presidential Politics (now through January 23)

Just in time for the upcoming elections, The Kinsey Institute offers a glimpse of presidential politics viewed by adult and underground media sources from its unique and rich collections. Featuring magazines, tabloids, newspapers and newsletters from the later half of the 20th century, this exhibit reveals a different perspective on the elections - sometime humorous, and often out of sight from that of the mainstream media. "Sex and Presidential Politics" is part of the Indiana University Libraries’ “Politics and Presidents: A Month-Long Celebration of Archives and Special Collections.”

UPCOMING EXHIBITION

Pre-Revolutionary Queer: Gay Art and Culture Before Stonewall (October 24 - February 14)

Thor (Samuel Steward), United States
Three Wheelers, c.1954
Ink on paper

This exhibition brings together a diverse collection of artwork, photographs, newsletters, magazines, and other materials from the Kinsey Institute archives documenting the existence of a vibrant but largely underground gay culture prior to the start of the modern gay rights movement in the late 1960s

Gallery Hours
Monday - Friday, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Visiting the Gallery
Visitors may view the gallery during gallery hours without an appointment. Please note that the gallery is closed for all major and federal holidays.

To schedule a gallery visit at another time, please call 812-855-7686. Maps & Directions to the Institute are available at this site.

So it's summertime in Bloomington and that means nothing but fun - here are a few suggestions for some (almost) guaranteed good times.  A couple of options for queer-specific crowds include: Uncle E's, Bloomington's last standing gay bar, is breaking in their new digs - stop by 7 nights a week at 1614 W. Third St. or call 812.331.0060 for event schedules including twice-weekly drag shows.  Sunday is Boing night at Jake's Nightclub, 419 N. Walnut St. (812.333.5253) and offers a great chance to dance the weekend away.

As for the rest of the week, and the rest of the town for that matter, there's plenty to do and you'll always feel welcome.  Sunday night at farmBloomington offers a great little scene in the bar and front seating area.  Half-price "pies" (woodstone pizzas) are the perfect complement to their full bar selection.  I like to just have the bartenders surprise me with whatever their in the mood to make. 

Just down the street, you can never go wrong at Crazy Horse - half-price bottles of wine on Sunday & Wednesday and one of the best outdoor seating areas in the city.  The Crazy Horse Friday happy hour (4-7) is legendary and offers free munchies (including pizza after 5) and discounted 23 oz. domestics. 

Monday is the night to be seen (well any night is the night to be seen) at Malibu Grill.  $5 martinis all night long.  This place has to have the staff that's easiest on the eyes in Bloomington.  The food is delicious too and their located in the heart of the eastside of the Courthouse Square.  The spinach-artichoke dip is pretty unforgettable.

Monday is also half-price wine at Uptown Cafe - a Bloomington tradition.  Cajun jazz meets Bloomington cosmopolitan.  Try and snag a table that doubles as a work of art from Bella Bella by Lara Moore.  Make sure you try your entree "hoosier style" with mashed potatoes instead of rice.

Every night of the summer is half-price martinis at Scholars Inn Gourmet Cafe & Wine Bar.  The "All-Nighter" is aptly named, the Manhattan will grow hair on your chest, and the Cosmo is a delight.  You just might go back every night for the rest of the summer.

Another option for martinis is Grazie! Italian Eatery - Thursday's are half-price night here.  One step into this chic bar and you will forget you are across from the Courthouse Square.  Live piano on Friday nights by Bloomington's own Dave Schwandt.

One more stop for you wine lovers is tutto bene wine cafe & more.  Possibly the best wine list in town in an atmosphere that is equally unmatched.  Check out their $10 bottle list on Tuesdays & Thursdays.

Whew - that's enough for now.  Happy bar-hopping!

To me, it's not a stretch to say the modern gay-rights movement had it's beginnings, in, of all places, Bloomington, Indiana.  That's right, this progressive, small but mighty college town has an integral role in gay history.  As home to the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, Bloomington can lay claim to being the place where all the research was compiled for the groundbreaking works by Dr. Alfred Kinsey that influenced an entire society's view and opinion about human sexual behavior.  The first volume, published January 5, 1948 entitled Sexual Behavior in the Human Male was followed in September 1953 with Sexual Behavior in the Human Female.  Together, they changed the perception about sexuality in general, and, specifically, reported that homosexual tendencies were much more common than ever thought before.

The Kinsey Institute Gallery is a great way to visit this one-of-a-kind facility and see some of its collection of artwork, artifacts and photography.  Currently on exhibit is the Third Annual Juried Art Show, featuring almost 80 works from a truly international group of contemporary artists.  The exhibit includes photographs, sculptures, paintings, prints and mixed media pieces.  The gallery is free and open to the public Monday-Friday from 2:00-4:00 p.m.  The exhibit overflows from the Gallery and is featured throughout the hallways of the Institute. 

I have to tell you - this is a must-see attraction.  Every time I visit, I can't believe the elevator doors opening up and seeing the very simple sign "Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction."  And it's right here, in Bloomington, and full of history at every turn.  From the moment you walk in, there is artwork and other collectibles on exhibit everywhere you look.  One of my favorites is a letter from Sigmund Freud to a mother concerned about her son's homosexuality.  Freud, in a moving handwritten letter, attempts to put the woman's fears at ease by stating that homosexuality is not abnormal and certainly not shameful.  Talk about poignant and affirming. 

The list goes on - from Asian erotic art that is hundreds of years old to an impressive collection of Russian work - the collection is vast, encompassing cultures and perspectives from all corners of the globe.  The Gallery itself changes it's exhibit every 3-4 months, with the current Juried Show on exhibit through July 25. 

The Kinsey Institute is located in the heart of the beautiful Indiana University campus in Morrison Hall #313.  For more information, visit their website or call 812.855.7686.  Guided tours or visits outside the regular operating hours of the Gallery can be accommodated.  So, do yourself a favor and experience the Kinsey Institute and enjoy one of the most provocative and educational attractions in Bloomington.  On your way out, you can purchase a variety of souvenirs from Pat at the front desk.  You won't be disappointed and probably will want to make a return trip as the exhibit changes.  It's very fitting that this research institute has the most extensive collection of art & artifacts relating to human sexual behavior in the world.  After all - thanks to Dr. Kinsey, it all started here.