Erotic garden opens in Stockholm suburb
Jorma Toivonen's dream is to open a sex museum, but municipal councils have been lukewarm. In the meantime "Scandinavia's largest collection of erotic items" will be put on show in a Stockholm suburban garden.
Toivonen, a 52-year-old nurse, has long harboured ambitions of putting on display his collection of more than 15,000 articles, a collection he believes to be the largest of its kind in northern Europe.
"After some recent media interest there has been some contact from local municipalities. Some think it is a good idea but no one wants to stump up the cash. In the meantime my garden will have to do," Toivonen told The Local on Tuesday.
Toivonen is in no doubt that a sex museum is needed.
"I think that our society has maybe become more anti-sex. With a very lopsided view of sexuality. I hope my exhibition will show sex as something more interesting and fun."
His interest in the erotic was awakened in the early 1980s when he began to collect literature.
"I am interested in the history of the erotic. When I began to read about this in the 1980s I found that nothing is really new. Daring and open-mindedness did not arrive in the 60s and the 70s, it had all been done before. My collection shows this," Toivonen said to The Local.
His modest house in the leafy Stockholm suburb of Enskede is now full of items, books, magazines, sculptures and sex toys - all that could be expected to form part of a major exhibition.
"I could fill 300 square metres, and there is a lot more to collect," Jorma Toivonen claims.
The collection will go on display on May 2nd and 3rd.
See also: PHOTO GALLERY
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Toivonen, a 52-year-old nurse, has long harboured ambitions of putting on display his collection of more than 15,000 articles, a collection he believes to be the largest of its kind in northern Europe.
"After some recent media interest there has been some contact from local municipalities. Some think it is a good idea but no one wants to stump up the cash. In the meantime my garden will have to do," Toivonen told The Local on Tuesday.
Toivonen is in no doubt that a sex museum is needed.
"I think that our society has maybe become more anti-sex. With a very lopsided view of sexuality. I hope my exhibition will show sex as something more interesting and fun."
His interest in the erotic was awakened in the early 1980s when he began to collect literature.
"I am interested in the history of the erotic. When I began to read about this in the 1980s I found that nothing is really new. Daring and open-mindedness did not arrive in the 60s and the 70s, it had all been done before. My collection shows this," Toivonen said to The Local.
His modest house in the leafy Stockholm suburb of Enskede is now full of items, books, magazines, sculptures and sex toys - all that could be expected to form part of a major exhibition.
"I could fill 300 square metres, and there is a lot more to collect," Jorma Toivonen claims.
The collection will go on display on May 2nd and 3rd.
See also: PHOTO GALLERY
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