We invite you to tie with the seriousness of a child at play with the ropes and other materials, to get into the space of childlike curiosity and imagination, which is probably the origin of all creativity. Messy bondage brings up emotions quite different from that of normal bondage. It calls and responds to different thoughts in our psyche. It is not an anti-aesthetic, but a different aesthetic to conventional bondage. It combines structure and unpredictability. It is also a chance to learn new unshibari techniques, performance skills, as well as body and spacial awareness.
Natalia Je has been involved with Schwelle Sydney, the forerunner of the School of Really Good Sex, and associated ventures, on and off, since 2011, as a committee member, administrator, volunteer coordinator, workshop facilitator, devil’s advocate and creative mastermind behind some of the wicked concepts that have been unleashed.
She has background in Social work and Psychology, as well as extensive training in bodywork, yoga and other bodymind practices.
Natalia takes a critical stance towards sex, that it is neither essentially harmful and dangerous nor always good and pleasurable. She is specifically interested in the relationship between sex and madness and distress; she is committed to creating spaces that are trauma-oriented and Mad- and neurodiversity-friendly.
Peter Banki, Ph.D founded the School of Really Good Sex in 2015. Prior to that he curated Xplore - Festival of the Art of Lust in Sydney from 2011-2013. He says: “when you are intimate with someone, you see who they are. And that’s when it’s really exciting. Much more than their competence or whatever, it’s their being. Sex opens up and shows you a being at their most open and vulnerable, whatever their role.”
Peter has an extensive background in Iyengar yoga, dance and the martial arts (Capoeira Angola). His somatic and movement practice forms the basis of his work in the sex-positive field.
Peter has also been a scholar and teacher of European philosophy and literature for much of his adult life. Philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Georges Bataille, Anne Dufourmantelle, Avital Ronell and Jean-Luc Nancy have most inspired him in his thinking about sexuality and eroticism. He holds a Ph.D in German studies from New York University (September, 2009). His book The Forgiveness To Come: the Holocaust and the Hyper-Ethical came out recently with Fordham University Press. He is currently affiliated with the Philosophy Research Initiative at Western Sydney University. Articles about Peter's work on The Festival of Really Good Sex have been featured in many news outlets, including The Guardian, Archer Magazine, ABC Radio National and news.com. He has also been interviewed about the Festival of Death and Dying, which he also founded and directs, on ABC Radio and the Sydney Morning Herald. His work on apology and forgiveness has been featured on 2SER and on the philosophers’ zone on ABC Radio National.
A selection of Peter's academic publications can be found at www.peterbanki.com
