A Special Japanese Kinbaku Performance Comes To New York

Traveling offers an opportunity to fully immerse ourselves in another culture, but occasionally that culture comes to us. To commemorate the robust and eye-opening retrospective ‘The Incomplete Araki: Sex, Life, and Death in the Work of Nobuyoshi Araki’ at the Museum of Sex, the museum partnered with HEAVENSAKE to host a special Kinbaku performance—or Japanese rope binding. Hajime Kinoko, one of the leading Kinboku masters in Japan, came to New York to perform in what was a hypnotizing display that conveyed the beauty and eroticism of the ancient art form. Aimi, Kinoko’s accompanying model, was bound in delicate poses, beginning seated and ending up suspended on a wooden bar. After each new pose, Kinoko would sit beside Aimi in a meditative position, allowing the audience to take in the carefully constructed image. Fans of Araki would recognize some of the poses, though the photographer often pushed them to their erotic extremes. Here the focus was more on the process, Kinoko’s fervent twists around the body, tying and untying Aimi, and shifting her in a precise and calculated way. The Museum of Sex will host one more sold out performance tonight, to highlight the roots of one of Japan’s most prolific (and controversial) photographers, and offer a chance to indulge in the traditional art form.

‘The Incomplete Araki’ is on view at the Museum of Sex through August 31st

[Photo: Camille Kail, Courtesy Museum of Sex and HEAVENSAKE]

[Photo: Camille Kail, Courtesy Museum of Sex and HEAVENSAKE]

[Photo: Camille Kail, Courtesy Museum of Sex and HEAVENSAKE]

[Photo: Camille Kail, Courtesy Museum of Sex and HEAVENSAKE]