Viennese rope festival 2015 (part the first)

I meant to blog about this event right after it happened and was frankly unforgivably lazy about blogging for the longest time. Now I’ve blogged about an event since the guilt pressure is finally high enough that I’m going to actually write this up.

This was our first time in Vienna and our first time in Austria. Aside from the fact that we would get to see some of Vienna we were excited to see some friends for the first time in what seemed like ages. Wildties, Redsabbath, Saki Kamijoo and her model Mayumi Sumi. It’s incredible to think that over the last couple of years we’ve met up with each other variously in London, Paris, Rome, Moscow, Chicago and now Vienna. It frankly is incredible to think that this kind of thing now seems so perfectly natural.

As usual I’m going to have to take a moment to mention the people that organise events like this. I have to say that they very probably do a better job than I could and we were well looked after being collected from the airport and well informed about everything that was going on. I especially have to say thank you to those that spared their time to show us round some of their magnificent city. It’s really spectacular.

But before that the festival itself. We were really pleased to be asked to open the festivals shows and the venue was great being in a brewery in the city. The bar section where the opening was held was dark and filled with old blackened wood. It provided a great setting for the opening and a great atmosphere for the performance with the audience close around and dim and faceless to us because of the stage lights that were bright on us.

Here is a gallery of that first show.

: Shibari suspension performance, Vienna Rope Festival. Reverse prayer hands 後手合掌縛り – Gote Gasshou Shibari

: Shibari suspension performance, Vienna Rope Festival. Reverse prayer hands 後手合掌縛り – Gote Gasshou Shibari

: Shibari suspension performance, Vienna Rope Festival. Reverse prayer hands 後手合掌縛り – Gote Gasshou Shibari

: Shibari suspension performance, Vienna Rope Festival. Reverse prayer hands 後手合掌縛り – Gote Gasshou Shibari

The show was really intense for us and we really had a great time. We unwound after with my first Austrian Stein of Beer. It was very good btw.

One thing I must mention about the Festival was that there was a free bar all through it and that nobody at the event got drunk or was irresponsible with their drinking at all. I think we can all imagine events where that would not be the case.

About the Author: wykd

WykD_Dave (Dave Rickman) is a UK-based shibari bondage enthusiast, who now teaches and performs internationally accompanied by his partner Clover. He started exploring bondage 27 years ago and was autodidact for the first 17 years, until a lesson with shibari professional Osada Steve changed his way of tying. Dave loves Japanese style rope work, and decided to dedicate himself to this. “It isn’t about the rope, it’s about the expression, the look in the eyes, the hopelessness, the agony”. Now, Dave & Clover teach and perform all around the world. He takes great pleasure in seeing people get it and open their minds to what rope bondage can really be. “Not just a means of restraint but a much deeper and personally connected experience than any other I’ve ever found.” Running into Dave means running into his lovely partner Clover. She is very passionate about shibari bondage too, she models and performs, as well as makes impressive photos of Japanese rope work done by Dave. Her photography focuses on the feelings involved in rope play, not just the pretty ties, and she tells stories with her pictures. Dave: “Of course Clover’s a huge part of everything. Without her photography would people ever have noticed?”

I don't do rope, I do people. But I do them with rope.

Viennese rope festival 2015 (part the first)