Franco-Japanese luxury drinks brand HeavenSake recently launched its second sake at a ‘cultural gathering’ in Paris, culminating in renowned photographer Massimo Vitali being suspended high over the heaving crowd to capture the scene. In a similarly dramatic, theatrical fashion, the first ‘Better High’ happening in the brand’s event series last year featured a performance of kinbaku – literally meaning ‘the beauty of tight binding’ – by Japanese master Kinoko Hajime.
Last year, guests flocked to rue Saint-Honoré to celebrate the launch of HeavenSake and its inaugural offering, the Junmai Daiginjo sake (a pure type of sake, with no added alcohol).
At the event, guests witnessed an exquisitely crafted theatrical performance of Japanese bondage by the rope artist, who presented a precisely technical and emotionally intense spectacle in collaboration with kinbaku practitioner Kitiza.
Show producer Etienne Russo had been fascinated by kinbaku for some time, and decided to bring to life this puzzling cultural aspect of Japan. ‘The kinbaku performance was in our mind since we started to plan the launch, as it is an ancestral tradition in Japan,’ says Russo.
At times disturbing, the session left the predominantly European and American audience at the event speechless. Undoubtedly, the practice and its more spectacular iterations create a bridge between past and present, merging craft with exhibitionism and sexual performance in a way that is often difficult to understand and dissect for the untrained viewer.
-
The new Frederic Church Center at Olana complements its leafy Upstate New York siteTour the Frederic Church Center for Architecture and Landscape, now open at Olana, a historic site in Upstate New York, courtesy of architecture studio ARO
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper editors have been doing this weekA week of jetsetting has seen the editors in Tokyo, Milan, Vienna, Miami, New York and drinking Guinness with Jonathan Anderson in London
-
The Living Places experiment: how can architecture foster future wellbeing?Research initiative Living Places Copenhagen tests ideas around internal comfort and sustainable architecture standards to push the envelope on how contemporary homes and cities can be designed with wellness at their heart
-
'I’m So Happy You Are Here': discover the work of Japanese women photographersSubtitled ‘Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now’, this new monograph from Aperture is a fascinating insight into a critically overlooked body of work
-
Deathmatch wrestling’s behind-the-scenes moments and bloody gloryA new limited-edition book explores the intersection between art and deathmatch wrestling at a sold-out show held in Tokyo
-
BLUM marks 30 years of Japanese contemporary art in AmericaBLUM will take ‘Thirty Years: Written with a Splash of Blood’ to its New York space in September 2024, continuing its celebration of Japanese contemporary art in America
-
Olafur Eliasson inaugurates Azabudai Hills Gallery in TokyoOlafur Eliasson marks launch of Azabudai Hills Gallery, in Tokyo’s major new district, with a show of elemental strength
-
Takashi Murakami on his monsterizing San Francisco showTakashi Murakami tells us of pandemic-inspired creatures, eye-popping flowers, and NFTs as he explains the making of his exhibition at Asian Art Museum in San Francisco
-
Photographer David Abrahams captures quiet moments in Japan for his new London show‘Kyushu’ is a new show from photographer David Abrahams that documents his trip to a town on the Japanese island
-
Hiroshi Sugimoto: ‘The deeper I explore Shinto and Buddhist art, the more it reveals the shallowness of contemporary art’‘Hiroshi Sugimoto – The Descent of the Kasuga Spirit’, at the Kasuga-Taisha shrine in Nara, Japan, sees the acclaimed photographer draw on Japan’s spiritual past and present
-
Artist’s Palate: Chiharu Shiota’s recipe for okonomiyakiGet tangled up in Chiharu Shiota’s recipe for okonomiyaki, from our January 2023 issue’s Artist’s Palate feature, a Wallpaper* homage to our favourite contemporary art
