VTV Classics (r3): Nobuyoshi Araki: Kinbaku (2008)

In 2008, Jablonka Gallery showed 100 black-and-white photographs from Japanese artist Nobuyoshi Araki’s Kinbaku series in its former gallery space in Kochstrasse in Berlin (the gallery currently runs exhibition spaces in Cologne and Hürth). Araki is especially known for his erotic photographs. In Japan, Kinbaku is a traditional art form combining elements from the arts of packaging and of flower decoration (Ikebana). At first glance the photos of tied up woman seem to be in line with the Western concept of Bondage, but Nobuyoshi Araki has emphasized a contrast: “Kinbaku (knots with ropes) are different from bondage. I only tie up woman’s body because I know I cannot tie up her heart. Only her physical parts can be tied up. Tying up a woman becomes an embrace.” Nobuyoshi Araki takes photographs of women because photography for him is inextricably linked to love and eroticism. Most models have asked Nobuyoshi Araki themselves to be photographed for the Kinbaku series. This video of the exhibition was shot on the occasion of Gallery Weekend Berlin 2008. It has been re-edited now as part of VernissageTV’s Classics series.

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Nobuyoshi Araki: Kinbaku / Jablonka Gallery. Berlin Gallery Weekend 2008, May 3, 2008.

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Complete video (6:54 min.):

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