By definition Black erotica is African American literature or art intended to arouse sexual desire and explore human sexuality as a whole. It’s often been feared and abused more than it has been accepted and celebrated. In fact, it’s rarely seen or heard in any concerted way except for a few confident spoken-word artists at any given open mic night.
“I had never seen Black love, or Black lust, or Black obsession in an event where it was in a safe space and it wasn’t fetishsized and it wasn’t exploitative,” says Ben Jones, founder and curator of the Mississippi Mud Erotic Art Show.
Jones is an event planner, promoter, poet, and overall renaissance man with a 20-plus-year career who spontaneously decided to fill that void eight years ago.
“A friend of mine was interested in seeing a similar exhibition and I said, ‘I wonder how many would want to see something else like this from a Black perspective,’” Jones says. “I sat down, crafted the event, called my graphic designer, and said, ‘I need you to put this on a flier’ before I even contacted my venue. I put the flier into my feed and it went viral as soon as I posted it.”
Initially Jones reached out to various venues, fellow event promoters, and some of his peers in the arts community, but he says folks were hesitant to lend their support.
“I was begging people to help me out and no one wanted to touch the show because of the content,” he says. “They didn’t want to be pigeonholed into that branding style.”
With limited support he was able to grind it out and in 30 short days Jones booked 12 artists and 25 vendors. On Dec. 26, 2015 the first Mississippi Mud Black erotic performance and art show was held at Club Reign on Detroit’s east side.
“Everything was social media, from ticket sales to promotion,” he says, adding, “800 people showed up. I was not prepared for 800 people. I was prepared for maybe 100.”
Jones held a second Mississippi Mud in 2016, but it was shut down at midnight due to violation of an ordinance prohibiting liquor sales on Christmas Eve.
“You can’t sell liquor, and I wasn’t. But apparently you can’t give it out either,” he says. “It was an amateur mistake, you live and you learn.”.
There were three more Mississippi Mud shows, but like everything else, the pandemic prevented Jones from hosting one in 2020 and 2021. Instead, Jones used the hiatus to explore ideas to make Mississippi Mud even better and risque.
This year’s show is set to feature erotic art and photographs, African dancers, nude yoga, live bands, a DJ, poetry, sex toys, cannabis, food, books, and more.
“Imagine you walk into a room and everybody is dressed in kinky wear, leather wear, latex wear, or laundry,” he says. “Everybody looking good and smelling good. It’s a peaceful energy. You might go into a room and it’s a live band playing, you might go into another space and it’s a DJ, or you might go into another room and it’s burlesque.”
Jones is aware of other erotic art shows that receive more notoriety than his, but feels his niche is the depth and sincerity he brings to the curation of his show.
“I don’t think the other shows go all the way there as what intimacy is. I think that’s what the other shows lack,” he says. “And that’s a major component to lust, love, and life … It’s more cultural, it’s more than just an art exhibition. It’s a party. You got people dancing, moving the whole night, whereas other shows you are more of a spectator. Everybody is involved in the action Mississippi Mud.”
Even though his view of Black erotica is non-judgmental and heartfelt, Jones knows there are plenty of conservative folks that would classify it as nothing but porn.
“Is love porn? Is obsession porn? Is lust porn?” he asks. “Porn is non-intimate. Are there elements of rawness in Mississippi Mud? Of course there are, but there is a lot of love that goes into it and a lot of love that's expressed and it’s something that we need.”
No phones are allowed to the event, and 10% of the proceeds will go towards the SASHA Center to assist victims of rape and incest. For this year’s event, Jones has added more artists and more vendors.
“I’m shooting for 50 artists this year,” he says. “I’m not talking just visual artists but moving art, exhibitions, all types of different degrees of art. This year I’m looking into tapping into the art of submission and domination and the relationship thereof. I want to cultivate a safe space for us to experience those things.”
Jones also points out that there is no judgment via body type or sexual preference in Mississippi Mud.
“We’re open to everyone no matter who you love,” he says. “Every type of body is celebrated. It’s about being free, free of everything. What I want them to experience is liberty! Detroit is a French-settled city and the French believed in liberty.”
Jones plans to start hosting multiple Mississippi Mud shows per year, and hopes to see it evolve into a weekend festival and the kind of the event he can host in other cities.
“It’s way bigger than me,” he says, adding, “I really want this to evolve into a festival — just to buy art, to appreciate art, to invest in art and artists, to make art a part of your life.”
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