101 Vagina

2.2 Controversy and censorship

101 Vagina is a black-and-white photo-book by Philip

Werner, with a foreword by Toni Childs. It was selfpublished in March 2013 in Melbourne, Australia. The
book contains 101 close-up nude photos shot in a nonprovocative way, along with an accompanying story or
message written by each woman about her vagina.

In Sydney the exhibition was visited by police responding to a complaint that the images were visible from the
street.[13][14] Images were required to be censored as part
of a group exhibition at The Sydney Fringe.[15]

The books photos and stories were exhibited ve times in

Australia in 2013, with a US and Canadian tour in 2014
taking in six locations.

3 References
[1] Carbone, Suzanne (14 March 2013). Heres a lesson on
vaginas 101. The Age. Retrieved 29 June 2014.

Publication

[2] Hansen, David (24 April 2014). Hansen: The Shame

and Joy of 101 Vaginas. Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot.
Retrieved 29 June 2014.

101 Vagina was funded by crowd sourcing and took some

two years to create.[1][2] Werner was initially inspired
by The Vagina Monologues and subjects were found via
social media after Werner publicised his objective to create a book that had both an educational and celebratory
goal.[1][3] Models, ranging in age from 18 to 65, remain
anonymous. Singer-songwriter Toni Childs, who wrote
the foreword, made contact with Werner after he initiated
a peace march in honour of murdered ABC employee Jill
Meagher in his Brunswick neighbourhood.[4]

[3] Price, Jenna (November 20, 2012). Bodybits 101: the

personal side of Seles. Canberra Times (Fairfax Media).
[4] Robson, Suzanne (18 March 2013). Private parts go public for a cause in coee table book. Herald Sun. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
[5] Berry, Sarah (20 March 2013). Private parts go public.
Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 June 2014.

Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald about the book,

Werner commented that: I hope it nds its way to a few
young women and girls...So they see that [these pictures
are] normal rather than pictures in magazines.[5] Stories
accompanying the photos discuss various themes, including ageing, pregnancy, Brazilian waxing, rst sexual encounter and poor body image.[6]

[6] Bielski, Zosia (June 12, 2014). Controversial exhibit

unveils natural beauty of 101 women. Globe and Mail
(Globe and Mail).
[7] Bernier, Marie (31 May 2014). Portraits Intimes. La
Presse. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
[8] Smith, Amanda (14 April 2013). What lies below. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Reception

[9] A Vagina Festival in the Studio. http://www.2ser.com.

[10] Rosenberg, Jess (20 September 2013). 101 Vaginas on
Display. Broadsheet. Retrieved 29 June 2014.

On publication101 Vagina received broad media coverage, including write-ups in The Age,[1] The Sydney Morn- [11] listing. 101 Vagina book exhibition. melbourneing Herald[5] and La Presse in Montreal.[7] It was also disfringe.com. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
cussed on ABC Radio National,[8] and 2SER.[9]

2.1

[12] Gonzales, Nanette (April 8, 2014). 101 Vagina Art

Show @ Think Tank Gallery (NSFW)". LA Weekly (LA
Weekly).

Exhibitions

[13] Stubbs, Vanessa (28 June 2013). Hide the vagina. MX

101 Vagina was presented as an exhibition on several oc- Sydney (News Ltd).
casions in Australia in 2013. This included being part
of The Sydney Fringe.[10] and Melbourne Fringe Festi- [14] Sano, Melanie (1 July 2013). Police Monitor Vagina Exhibition. Visual Arts Hub. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
val.[11] In 2014, it was ocially launched in the USA and
Canada with a series of exhibitions. The tour included [15] Hunt, Adam (September 19, 2013). Vagina censorship
oensive. City Hub (Altmedia).
Los Angeles[12] and Laguna Beach.[2]
1

External links
Taboo Books page on 101 Vagina
US and Canada tour dates
Salon review by Tracy Clark-Flory
Le Nouvel Observateur review by Lucile Sourds

EXTERNAL LINKS

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

5.1

Text

101 Vagina Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101%20Vagina?oldid=634677912 Contributors: Joe Decker, Naraht, Dthomsen8, Libby
norman, Tavatimsa, BattyBot and Anonymous: 3

5.2

Images

5.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0