Sphinxes by the Armchair: The Museum of Sex and Health on Jeju

Two gilded sphinxes with bare breasts flank a pink leather armchair, with ornamental wallpaper and a small black figure on a plinth behind them. The room looks like a sitting room furnished by an antiques dealer, and that sets the tone at the Museum of Sex and Health in Seogwipo: sex education in a cabinet of curiosities.

It was founded by the collector Kim Whan Bae, who opened it in March 2006 after a five-year legal battle. It sits between Sanbangsan mountain and the Jungmun resort, with two floors of displays and a sculpture park outside.

The objects change register without warning. A wooden bench consists of two reclining phalluses with small figures at either end, with costumed dolls in scenes behind. A sarcophagus with the head of Anubis leans against a marbled wall, with a bandaged mummy in a tub in front of it and a pharaoh's bust beside it. In a glass case lies a small white group of a couple entwined, lit like a piece of antiquity.

The Egyptian section says nothing about sex. It is scenery. The museum takes its subject seriously where it puts up a case and leaves an object alone. Elsewhere it belongs to Jeju's run of theme attractions somewhere between the Teddy Bear Museum and Love Land, and it does not live up to the word "health" in its name.

Museum of Sex and Health, Seogwipo, Jeju.