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Ms. Pimentel told the Vancouver Sun that her two small children — aged two and three — were needlessly exposed to the disturbing “whale bone porn.” No advance warnings were made to sensitive patrons outside the display room, she complained.

But the nine pieces with sexual content are displayed in a case raised high off the floor, well beyond scope of a toddler’s inquisitive eyes, and lighting is prudishly dim. Next to the display is a sign: “Hide Your Eyes! These pieces of scrimshaw are not intended for children.”

Ms. Owen says the VMM anticipated that some concerns might be raised, hence the care taken with presentation. The museum has “more graphic” examples of scrimshaw, she says, but these remain hidden downstairs in the museum’s basement. They include depictions of creative candlestick use and what Ms. Owen cautiously describes as “the act.” They will likely never see the light of day.

That may not satisfy Ms. Pimentel. The sexy scrimshaw that’s now on view “needs to be in an isolated room, it needs to be clearly marked, where a child or anyone under 18 can’t see them,” she told the Vancouver Sun.

Ironically, Ms. Pimentel’s one-woman crusade has created more interest in the VMM show than the museum could have mustered on its own. There’s a further irony, a real controversy that involves the collection, after all. A small underground trade exists in whale bone porn, some of it very disturbing indeed. Ms. Owen says her museum can’t guarantee that all of its scrimshaw is from genuine 19th-century whale; some pieces may have been crafted more recently, by unscrupulous artisans and fakers, and then made to appear “aged.”

National Post

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