All Tied Up: Hajime Kinoko Brings Shibari Performance to Miami Art Week

Shibari artist Hajime Kinoko and model Marie Sauvage will perform their immersive Japanese rope bondage at the Ground on Wednesday, December 4.

Unlike most Shibari shows, which last around 30 minutes, Kinoko and a staff of skilled volunteers will spend an hour creating a rope installation from scratch. Then, for the next hour, Kinoko will tie up Sauvage and hang her from the newly created structure, where she will change poses several times before being lowered. All this will be set against the backdrop of booming DJ sets from Lena Willikens and Johnny From Space.

Two of the most well-known Shibari artists of their time, Kinoko and Sauvage, met almost a decade ago when Sauvage was still a student and Kinoko was already well-established in the art form. Their first performance together was seven years ago when he tied her up in a desert installation at Burning Man.

"Shibari is an artistic way for me to connect with others while exploring vulnerability in a safe container," Sauvage tells New Times. "The rigger leads. The subject surrenders to the rigger within the boundaries of the subject. It is, in a sense, an equal exchange of partnership."

"Partnership is very important," Kinoko adds. "If you can't trust each other during the show, you can't have a good show. This is the most important piece. The rest is mutual respect. We like each other. So it's important to treat each other well not just during the show, but in private too."

Shibari, which is also commonly referred to as Kinbaku-bi in Japan, is a process of tying a partner up with intricate knots using several pieces of thin rope. Similar to bondage and BDSM, the ropes symbolize power or dominance over the person being restrained. The erotic practice has gained mainstream traction in the United States, with rope suspensions appearing in music videos like the Weeknd's "Earned It" and FKA Twigs' "Pendulum."
Kinoko has been practicing Shibari for 25 years and spends an average of eight to ten hours a day working with the form. At this point, he says, the ropes have become like an extension of his body. "The most important thing is whether the model is safe. Everything that is important during a performance is built into every cell of my body," he explains.

Much of his Shibari work has been informed by magna and anime. "In Japanese anime, when the hero and the enemy fight, sometimes the hero is captured, or a very strong enemy is sealed away for 10,000 years, or there are often scenes where the hero is tied up," Kinoko says. "This is not a bondage binding but a different form. Also, it is not a rope, but a tentacle, a power cord, and various other things."

"For me, it's beauty, true surrender, true emotion, and connection," Sauvage adds. "I want people to see the show and think to themselves, how much am I able to be vulnerable with myself and others?"

Wednesday's event at the Ground will kick off Kinoko and Sauvage's upcoming U.S. tour, which will also stop in Chicago, Detroit, New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Spectators should be in for a treat. "We need to put on an even better performance than our last tour," Kinoko says, "so we've spent a year preparing."

Hajime Kinoko and Marie Sauvage Shibari Cube Performance. 10 p.m. Wednesday, December 4, at the Ground, 34 NE 11th St., Miami; thegroundmiami.com. Tickets cost $25.35 to $56.82 via dice.fm.