KINBAKU SALON – AKECHI DENKI

Bergborg presents a series of evening with introductions to some of the pioneers of Kinbaku.

"In SM, shibari is communication between two people using the medium of rope. It’s a connection made with rope between the hearts of two people."

These words by Akechi Denki (1940–2005) have become famous – for good reasons. Akechi was a pioneer in several fields – as a creative rope-artist, an engineer and a performer. The distinctive style of Akechi, as a crucial inspiration for rope-artists such as Kanna, Osada Steve and Pedro, has had quite some influence on the European rope-scene. Akechi was also the first Japanese rope-artist that came to Europe to perform, in 1998.

Through some texts where Akechi tells about his life, we will begin the evening by tracing his itinerary from his childhood and youth in a Japan defined by the war and the post-war sufferings, to his break-through as a rope-performer in the 1980s.

Hit by a heart-attack when he was 19 years old, Akechi was told by the doctor that he would probably not live to see his 30th birthday. He recalls his reaction: "If I lived each day with double intensity, even though I may die when I am 30, it would be the same as dying when I was sixty."

Drawing on a wealth of materials such as texts and images from old magazines, VHS-tapes and later DVDs, we will examine the development of Akechi's style and try to understand his outlook. "Sometimes the ropes move on their own and my hands just follow, and that is always an amazing experience. I just disappear. The shibari is always very beautiful when that happens."

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This will be an evening of reflection and learning, but also of pleasure. Bergborg is opening the archives with rare materials from the early 1950s until today.
There will be photos, artwork, translated texts, movie-clips, and excerpts from original interviews not yet published.
Bring an open mind, a pen and a notebook. And, of course, bring your ropes...

Gallery of Akechi Denki-images:
www.darkside.se/g.php?bild=1193285#ctop


Background materials:
http://kinbakubooks.wordpress.com


Time: 18.00–21.30

Price: 200 SEK / pers
Luxurious vegetarian snacks included

Register with an email to bergamott@live.se or send a message to Bergborg on Darkside


* KINBAKU SALON SPRING PROGRAM *

1 feb ITOH SEIU
15 feb MINOMURA KOU
22 March TSUJIMURA TAKASHI
3 May OSADA EIKICHI
17 May AKECHI DENKI
31 May NUREKI CHIMUO
14 June YUKIMURA HARUKI