MIDRAND, South Africa (AFP) — For economy student Helena Gaspar one can never know too much about sex, and it is this which has seduced her into attending "Sexpo" - South Africa's first ever sex exhibition.
Innocently grasping a red balloon inscribed with the words "Blow me," the 22-year-old admits she "learned a lot," as she leaves a workshop dedicated to orgasms.
"I know now how my boyfriend can have an orgasm without ejaculating. It's great!"
Visitors to "Sexpo," which runs until Sunday, are treated to a dizzying array of fantasy and humour, as amateur strip shows, lap and pole dance classes and chocolate-licking competitions make sensuality the order of the day.
The arrival of the sexy exhibition, held in Midrand north of Johannesburg, has been heralded as a sign that South Africa is moving with the times as its population with a reputation for prudery slowly but surely accepts its sexuality.
With almost everything forbidden under apartheid, the advent of democracy in 1994 has seen South Africans liberated in every sense of the word, and the country appears more avant-garde than its conservative neighbours.
In deeply moral Zambia a couple was recently heavily fined for being found with photographs of themselves having sex and in Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe has described homosexuals as "worse than pigs and dogs."
In South Africa a plethora of sex shops are visible from the street and housewives hold Tupperware-style parties touting vibrators and other sexy gadgets.
Pole-dancing has become a popular exercise for the more adventurous and homosexual marriages were recently legalised.
"We think that South Africa needs something like this to be more open about sex, talk more about it," explains 28-year-old Silas Howarth, publicist and organiser of "Sexpo."
In spite of the recent revolution, sexuality remains taboo for most South Africans, a culture which does not help the fight against the AIDS epidemic which affects 5.5 million people, more than 18 percent of the population.
"What can we do? It's happening under the blankets," government minister Thoko Didiza said, justifying the timidity of prevention campaigns, during a June conference of the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
"I really do believe that if you don't talk about sex in a healthy way, it can only lead to negative things," said Howarth, in reference to some 50,000 rapes recorded in the country every year.
The first African edition of "Sexpo" --a concept imported from Australia where it tours five cities every year-- hopes to attract some 30,000 visitors
Men and women accompanied by colleagues or friends, and couples of all ages-- but strictly above 18 -- converged on the opening on Thursday.
They rummaged among some 100 stalls selling, among others, lingerie, fake nails, fur carpets, jacuzzis and rasberry flavoured lubricants.
Visitors to the exhibition received a sexy welcome from two Adonis-like bodybuilders displaying nude torsos, who alternated with two beauties dressed up as a naughty nurse and sexy New York taxi driver.
In the centre of the hall, boys and girls alike amused themselves riding on an enormous rodeo-like phallus, holding on for dear life until thrown off the bucking "sex machine."
Australian painter Tim Patch, better known as "Pricasso," lured the crowds with his unique brand of art - he paints naked with... his penis.
"It's exciting," says Janine De Kock, 25, after the artist -- wearing a silver top hat and bow-tie -- finished her portrait.
Her husband Daniel judged the finished piece as "very good," but he would not risk applying himself to the palette.
"I am not so gifted... as a painter," he said.
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