London Festival of the Art of Japanese Bondage

LONDON FESTIVAL OF JAPANESE ROPE BONDAGE 2009
REVIEW
By David Kudish of

On a Thursday night in an unpromising-​looking corner of the East End, a door was about to be opened into an entirely different world. The Resistance Gallery was hosting the inaugural London Festival of Japanese Rope Bondage and providing the opportunity to witness an art form widely famed for its intertwining of the sacred and profane but often only seen by those already in the know.
The gallery is a modern, utilitarian space which had been dressed for the four days of the event as a temple to rope and oriental-​influenced erotic art. Welcomed in by an immaculately-​dressed geisha, a winding red cloth led into the main space, walls hung with a variety of photographs, prints and ceramics and a large stage, impressively framed in sturdy-​looking bamboo, bedecked with intriguing-​looking clips and rings.
The first evening was dedicated to a drawing and photography session, led by well-​known British expert Nawashi Murakawa, responsible for the ropes and red drapery which transformed the gallery. For some of the audience, this was their first live experience of Kinbaku and their intense concentration, as two models were tied together with a series of complex, beautiful knots to the sounds of live Japanese music was almost as fascinating as the display itself.
This gentle introduction could not have been a greater contrast to the energetic, diverse evening which followed. The official opening of the art exhibition drew a full house, made up not just of old hands from the kink and fetish scene but complete newcomers, drawn by the festival’s coverage in London’s papers. Pleasingly, it was soon hard to tell who was who as the friendly crowd mixed and took in the artwork on offer. A video installation by Manuel Vason and renowned British performer and tutor Esinem showed a loop of a bound, suspended model being sprayed with a changing sequence of colours, providing a hypnotic counterpoint to the static pieces around the walls. A variety of styles were represented from the rare and still quite shocking antique Yoshitoshi print The Lonely House on Adachi Moor to the appealing, modern comic style of Ben Newman. Ceramics by Mark Boyce were drawing much attention, their apparently abstract repeated patterns revealing themselves to be clearly erotic images upon deeper inspection.
This night set the tone for the rest of the weekend, with a continuing series of performances on the main stage which showcased every aspect of Kinbaku. Models, including the occasional man, were brought from a state of freedom and mobility to complete suspension, hanging from the bamboo frame with rope being used not simply to bind but to decorate, lead and, where necessary, control. It was constantly impressive to observe how a seemingly extreme and painful situation for the models, limbs held in a tight pattern of fibre, resulted in expressions of peaceful contentment on their faces, a fact which clearly reassured some of the newcomers in the crowd.
Of course, some models, such as Jess, being tied by her partner Mark, from BeShibari in Belgium, were more feisty and with great humour demonstrated how rope does not always have to be about quiet submission.
Saturday was time for learning. Attendees, clearly inspired by the previous two nights, eagerly picked up tricks and techniques from the tutors on hand. Looking about the gallery, the bar staff seemed to be the only people not actually tying or being tied; which was a good thing, given the numbers who came later for the party and filled the place to the rafters, with plenty of rope-​work continuing into the night.
Sunday saw more workshops and an evening of Japanese art bondage movies, bringing the weekend to a close. Gallery owner Garry Vanderhorne and co-​organisers Esinem and Nawashi Murakawa looked exhausted but happy after their four-​day marathon and were overheard already cooking up plans for 2010’s festival. Judging by the response of this year’s crowd, it’ll be a sell-​out.