About The Space
The space is in an industrial building in Salt River with parking inside on a first-come-first-serve basis. We also have parking available directly outside of the building. To navigate to our space, follow this link on Google Maps. Navigating into the space requires going up 5 steps and we also have bathrooms available up an additional staircase. If you have any questions about accessibility, please email us so that we can find a way to accommodate you.
The space is set up for rope, with floor-to-floor mats and hard points for suspension. If you have your own rope, please bring this along.
Meet The Team
Please note that If you DM us on Instagram, Facebook, or FetLife, you will be speaking to Astrid, Sim, Kay or rope.fu.
Embodiment is operated by the following volunteers:
Astrid
she/them
Co-founder, Director, and Educator
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Astrid fell in love with rope back in 2016 on a trip abroad and has been building community locally ever since. When tying, her rope seeks to cause both comfort and discomfort for those she ties. When tied, they love to feel challenged, objectified, and disheveled. Astrid perceives rope as having the capacity for multitudes in terms of expression. The more she learns, the more she sees how much there is to learn – about the medium itself, but also about those on both sides of the rope. Her role in Embodiment is to share her knowledge with the community and encourage those on the team to share what they learn with others.
Astrid and Sim no longer live in Cape Town but continue to support the community and fellow organisers from abroad.
Instagram: @desirelinesbondage
Sim
she/her
Co-founder, Director, and Educator
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Sim is a toppy rope bottom who enjoys pain, and spit but will be angry if any of her hair is pulled (including leg hair). Mostly a rope bottom in the rope and education space, Sim also enjoys tying and torturing toe-beans. She seeks challenges, connection, and intimacy and enjoys creating visual content in rope. Rope is another extension of communication and curiosity for her when exploring others and herself and is a medium she is forever learning more of and in.
Her role in Embodiment is to add to the overall education in the space, develop more material and guidance for rope bottoms as well as support the community in navigating the complexities of rope.
Instagram: @vroeteldier.kinbaku
Kay
she/her
Co-founder, Director, Educator, and Space-holder
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Kay has been lowkey enjoying rope privately (as a bunny) since 2015 with her best friend.
She dipped a toe in Embodiment’s world and realised she had found a space that made her feel safe. This opened up a world where she could explore herself and the people around her through the medium of rope.
She started to self-tie around Feb/March 2022 and immediately fell in love with it. Her intentions range from self-pleasure (who doesn’t want to feel gorgeous and turn themselves on), to grounding the mind (calming the chaos of life), to connecting with her body (to see how her body is feeling and doing). Kay has also recently started a journey to explore her rigger/top side, she will see where it takes her, but she will do it slowly with intention.
Kay loves teaching & learning. The beginner classes are her favorite to teach (or as she affectionately calls it her Jellyfish Class). She will hold space for anyone around her & her approach to life is to treat everyone with care & mindfulness.
Instagram: @faeriebunnyrope
Rope.fu
he/him
Strategist, Educator, and Space-holder
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Rope.fu has loved knots since being a kid making bows and arrows, snares and natural rope from plants. The sensations and emotions that rope creates are just as important to him as the beauty and artistry of the tie. He seeks to create the feeling of being bound and held at the same time.
His role at Embodiment is to continue Astrid and Sim’s initiative making sure Embodiment is a safe(r) place for rope lovers and the queer community in general. He also focuses on improving and growing our communities technical and emotive ability within rope, while championing our values of consent and negotiation.
Instagram: @rope.fu
Wave
she/her
Educator and Space-holder
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In an attempt to impress a girl, Wave tried to learn how to tie from the internet. The more she learned about rope the more invested she became in the versatility and community aspects of tying. Shibari teaches Wave new ways to communicate and connect with others; rope allows them to explore parts of themselves and others that are often left untouched.
Wave is helping hold the rope jam space, with a particular focus on keeping the queer jams a safe(r) space for exploration by the LGBTQIA+ community.
Instagram: @wcalvie50x
HotSqueak
they/them
Consent Champion, Educator, and Space-holder
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HotSqueak has been involved in the greater kink scene since 2012. They care about the safety of people, especially those in kink, and believe that communication is our most powerful tool. They can’t tie any knots, but are an enthusiastic rope bottom. They enjoy listening to others and helping where they can. They take a pragmatic but compassionate approach to problem-solving and they try to be fair and balanced.
HotSqueak hopes to hold space for and listen to difficult conversations, with the goal to educate, mediate and find a resolution. They believe everyone is deserving of empathy and is capable of growth. They aim to be an approachable, self-aware and ethical person.
Instagram: @HotSqueak
Vrishti
they/them
Educator and Space-holder
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Vrishti enjoys exploring the weird wonderfulness that rope has to offer as an art form and as a medium of communication. New to their rope journey, they are slowly working on improving their skill level both technically and through expression and connection.
They were drawn to shibari because of the culture of consent, communication and mindfulness that surrounds the medium. As a space-holder and educator, they hope to contribute to a safe(r) space for others to explore this too.
Vrishti is helping hold the rope jam space, with a particular focus on keeping the queer jams a safe(r) space for exploration by the LGBTQIA+ community.
Instagram: @vrishti_1618
Charlie French
She/Her
Space-holder
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Charlie French is a rope bottom with a passion for creating and facilitating different types of safe queer spaces. She is also a trainee TRE provider.
Her rope journey began in 2022 and she has a keen interest in exploring how being tied can create more mindful connections with our bodies and guide us to a deeper grounding to the present moment and ourselves.
She appreciates the incredibly beautiful artistry of rope, it’s ability to soothe and the intimacy created within a tying experience.
Charlie is helping hold the rope jam space, with a particular focus on keeping the queer jams a safe(r) space for exploration by the LGBTQIA+ community.
Instagram: @charliefrench_za
Lee
They/Them
Educator and Space-holder
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In 2020, Lee stepped into the world of kink and carefully started discovering the art of rope bondage with trusted friends through the Embodiment space. While initially only bottoming in their kinky shenanigans, Lee eventually gained the confidence to attempt self-tying and rigging.
Although their exploration started with the aesthetic beauty found in the tension between the body and rope, Lee soon discovered the multifaceted nature of rope bondage: bodily awareness, meditative properties of tying and being tied, and the dynamic interplay of trust between the participants. They found that their ability to communicate effectively and empathetically has drastically increased over the past few years.
They look forward learning and experiencing even more through rope practice.
Instagram: @creaturale
Bug
They/Them
Artist & Spaceholder
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Bug is a beholder and recorder of intimacy and kink. Often found curled up with oil pastels and wide eyes. Furiously placing colour onto page with bodies and rope intertwined. Rope has been an intimate and connecting labour to better understand themselves. Often squeezing, stretching and straining against soft, well worn ropes. All tucked in snug as a Bug.
Instagram: @bugartstuff
York
They/Them
Artist & Spaceholder
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York was drawn to Shibari as an artist intrigued by the gorgeous forms one can create using the body and rope. Beginning their rope journey at Embodiment with their partner in the midst of covid’s isolation they came to discover an appreciation and love for body handling and active space holding as well.
With a particular focus on making space for LGBTQIA+ people within the Cape Town kink community, York aspires to help build a warm and welcoming environment for people to explore the beauty of all bodies and create together.
Instagram: @newyork.creations
Kye
She/They
Space holder, art maker, intimacy educator, thought provoker.
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With over 15 years of behind the scenes involvement in the kink community, I’ve earned trust as both a kinky creative and space holder and as such I have a deep love for crafting immersive, intimate, sensory experiences. From paint on paper to skin on skin, my workshops attempt to emphasize mindfulness and presence, inviting individuals to embody each moment fully. It’s been a privilege to merge my passion for creativity with my commitment to the community, where I strive to foster deep connections and meaningful experiences for all folk.
Instagram: @_bykye
Sudo
He/They
Strategist, Educator, Researcher
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Sudo (he/they) has been a student of kinbaku for many years, and has been practising mainly semenawa for the last five years. He has studied widely – at Copenhagen Shibari Dojo with Yukinaga Max and in Berlin with Tamandua. He is part of Akechi Kanna’s study group and is a student of Naka Akira. He runs the private Cape Kinbaku Salon together with his wife Fire Lily. At Embodiment Sudo helps with teaching, curriculum R&D and sessions, as well as developing the physical space.
Instagram: @sudo_kinbaku_ @sudojute
Fire lily
She/Her
Strategist, Educator, Spaceholder
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Fire lily is a rope bottom with deep experience in different styles of bondage and a rich insight into the psychology of rope. She enjoys exploring the opportunity for creative expression that rope offers; from the collaborative start in learning how to tie to image making in all its forms. She enjoys creative collaboration with fellow rope enthusiasts. She dreams of publishing limited edition hand bound Kinbaku art books. Fire Lily together with her partner Sudo runs Cape Kinbaku Salon. At Embodiment she teaches as Sudo’s tying partner, in bottom education development and is involved in the development of the physical space.
Instagram: @fire_lily_kinbaku
Jess
She/Her
Writer and Spaceholder
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Jess loves everything to do with rope – Giving and receiving. She is an artist of intimacy, using assorted mediums to explore the connection between the ‘self’ and ‘other(s)’. She has performed at assorted venues, private and public, including The Raptor Room (Embodiment, 2018), 196 Victoria (BOUND, 2024) and 6 Spin Street Gallery (Bound to Boundless, 2024). Her curiosities include anatomy, intimacy, and the complexity of the human relationship with pain and pleasure, craving and avoidance. She aspires to write, teach, share and thoroughly experience all things Shibari.
Instagram: @never_ending_jess