If what is now exhibited as erotica is anything to go by, the British, never celebrated for creative eroticism, have declined further into a rather bored quest for aids to sexual excitement. Erotica 2007 told more about Britain than it showed, and not just because thousands showed up at the three-day show, many in quite inventive shades of undress, or because it was featured all the way from television to the high-minded Guardian. The slew of reviews suggests the seriousness with which the event was taken. The interest, multiplied online, was a picture of the prevailing mood about where many think excitement in relationships lies.
In toys and swinging (swapping) mostly, though seen another way it offered also a purchasable commonality to ways that would seem creative to those who engage in them, and kinky to the outsider. The show sold the lot "stunning performances, steamy experiences, sexy seminars, lingerie, corsetry, fetish wear, art, toys, guys, girls..." It was a weekend to shop, as program editor Caol Milligan had said before the show, for "romance, seduction, divine torture—whatever you desire we can provide".
Steve Barron 
Chicken A La South 
