Menopause on display: A Vagina Museum exhibition

Crowd the Cause to Fund the Pause!

Help us Pause the Stigma on Menopause!

Menopause is one of the most requested exhibition themes the Vagina Museum has ever had; so we got to work and approached more than 15 arts and heritage funders to support an exhibition about menopause. Absolutely none of them chose to do so. We find ourselves in a situation where nobody wants to fund menopause - so we’re asking you.

Our next exhibition, Menopause: What’s Changed?, is scheduled to open on 18th October 2024 - World Menopause Day. The exhibition will explore menopause in the past; how menopause became medicalised; and personal experiences of menopause including LGBT+ experiences and early menopause.

Why we need this exhibition

An exhibition on menopause opens up a conversation, bringing together a tapestry of lived experiences and breaking taboos. Menopause is increasing in visibility, but it remains comparatively under-researched, with gaps and inequalities in care and less support than should be available. There is a funding gap, and the Vagina Museum, with our planned exhibition on menopause, is feeling this disparity too.

Menopause is one of the most requested exhibition themes the Vagina Museum has ever had, second only to endometriosis, which was featured in our exhibition Endometriosis Into the Unknown earlier this year. Half of the world will go through menopause at some point in their life. Yet this common life event is shrouded in silence and stigma. Research by the Fawcett Society found that almost 80% of menopausal women had felt unsupported, and almost half hadn’t been to the doctor about menopause symptoms. Many did not know at all what to expect.

How you can help

We can’t achieve Menopause: What’s Changed? without you. We need to raise £58,000 to bring this exhibition to the world. A museum exhibition is expensive, coming with substantial overheads and direct costs in making the project happen. We tried everything else, and now we’re turning to you. Please donate if you believe the world needs menopause proudly on display.