The proximity to death is not necessarily negative, it can be that which gives us the feeling of being most alive. Death touches us not simply as “a fact of life”, but also as a fantasmatic object of desire. Many people, consciously or unconsciously, search for limit-experiences for the intensity and thrill of being on the threshold of something that gives them the feeling of being close to death.
In this workshop, we’ll explore how certain erotic practices encroach the fantasmatic thresholds of death and dying. You’ll be given the opportunity to try them. All activity will be safe, consensual and risk aware.

Peter Banki, Ph.D is founder and director of the Sydney Festival of Death and Dying and the Sydney Festival of Really Good Sex. He is a scholar, artist, festival producer and teacher. He is currently an associate member of the Philosophy Research Initiative at the University of Western Sydney, where he has also lectured and tutored in the School of Humanities and Languages.

He holds a Ph.D in German literature from New York University (September, 2009). His book Holocaust Forgiveness is forthcoming with Fordham University Press. His current research interests include the resonances of German Romanticism, the intersections between philosophy and sexuality, and the politics of reconciliation and forgiveness in relation to cultural trauma.

Natalia Je is a human services professional, postgrad student and ‘social justice’ advocate with background in social work, psychology, dance, alternative medicine and bodywork. Informed by her own history and experiences of ‘madness’ and distress, her research and advocacy centre on challenging the mainstream bio-medical approaches to emotional distress and fostering more emancipatory languages and practices in and alongside the ‘mental health’ sector.

Her favourite pastimes are reading, travel and bushwalking. She practices yoga and not taking herself too seriously. Both being damn hard.