Beyond the technicalities of Shibari as a skill, rope is essentially a sensory tool as well as a method of restraint. In this workshop we will look at restraint as a means of establishing a power exchange dynamic and how to cultivate intimacy, trust and ultimately surrender. To take away agency is to take over responsibility of another body. Through movement and body work, we will work toward building an awareness our own body in relation to another’s. We will then experiment with rope as a sensory device and a binding tool, getting creative with how one uses the rope to elicit a plethora of sensations, in turn, learning how to curate a sensory experience that will assist the process of surrender.

We will explore restraint as an opportunity for deep nurturing and holding and begin to navigate the responsibilities of the dominant and the submissive role, as well as the methods for caring and holding space for surrender.

Ira Zev is a faculty member of the School of Really Good Sex since 2017 and is also co-founder of SCRAP Gallery and Co-op in Enmore in Sydney. Her interest in sex-positive spaces comes out of her critique of the culture we live in. To her, it has always seemed normal for people to share an intimacy with one another and to be affectionate. “That’s how we make connections, that’s how we make friends. For the culture to tell us that that’s wrong to explore never seemed right to me.”

Ira is especially interested in making spaces where people come to realise that they can be creative.

“People come to these workshops and festivals thinking they’ll get step by step pointers and tricks about how to be better lovers or how to have good sex, but it doesn’t work like that. I want people to realise that we all have the capacity to be creative. We all have the permission to do that all the time.”