Vagina Museum hits target in ‘make or break’ crowdfunding campaign

The Vagina Museum has raised more than £68,500 via crowdfunding after warning that it was a month away from closure.

The East London venue announced last week that it would be forced to shut its doors permanently due to an impending quarterly rent payment that would push it below its minimum reserve limit.

In a statement on its GoFundMe page, the museum said: “We have tried hard to negotiate an arrangement with our landlords. We want to pay our rent. They are aware of the situation. They refuse to exercise discretion.”

The museum said it was being “battered from all sides”, citing multiple crises in reproductive rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and arts and culture. “This has had a serious impact on our short and the long-term sustainability,” it said.

“We are not afraid to tackle topics which are unpopular, unfundable, taboo or uncomfortable. We stand defiant in a world which needs us, but does not always want us.”

Shortly after launching the campaign, the museum confirmed that enough had been raised to save the venue “in the immediate future”.

More than 1,900 donations were made, including a top single donation of £5,000.

The museum has since stretched its target to £69,420. It announced this week that it was launching a billboard campaign featuring “stolen vulvas from famous artworks”.

“The real work starts now,” it said. “We've been doing this for years on a shoestring budget with just about enough staff to keep functioning. There's no room to grow. No room to thrive. So we've extended our target to our stretch goal. This is no longer about surviving, but about being able to thrive in a world with so many forces still against us.”

Launched in 2019 as the world's first bricks-and-mortar museum dedicated to vaginas, vulvas and gynaecological anatomy, the Vagina Museum was initially based in Camden Market before moving to Bethnal Green in East London in 2021. It opened at its current location on Poyser Street in 2023.