On Saturday, 31st March at the Center for Sex and Culture, to coincide with the exhibition, 'Anais through the Looking Glass and Other Stories', an important panel discussion took place.’ A Call to Eroticism’ . Five eminent artists and writers discussed and examined the need to keep Eroticism and erotic artists and writers like Anais Nin, our protagonist , current and relevant in todays contemporary world.
When Anais Nin was a young woman in the 1930s just starting out, there were no choices for women. Sex and eroticism in the public sphere was exclusively dominated by men. Anais created her own sexual choices and lived by them. Anais was not alone in creating her choices, there were many other brave and forward-thinking women who ventured into making their own choices: thus, creating the beginnings of erotic feminism. What Anais and her peers created back then has come full circle. Women today have many choices regarding their sexuality. Unfortunately, with the rapid grow of social media and the ‘Selfie’, some choices either get lost along the way or become overwhelming. In this age of immediate self-gratification, Anais Nin offers a subtler path: one of sensuality, eroticism and poetry.
All the writers and artists on the panel have written, or visually explored eroticism in their art. Some have been influenced by Anais Nin, some have not. What they all have in common is the need to keep eroticism in the realm of the senses and in the Arts. They are all pioneers in keeping eroticism alive and are equally as important , if not more so in todays climate, as Anais Nin herself.
I would like to thank once again, Laura Frost, Steven Reigns, Carol Queen and Dorain Katz for an exceptional afternoon of enlightenment.
For the full panel discussion on, 'A Call to Eroticism', check out the link here
