Copenhagen

The Copenhagen scene

In 2010 Peer Rope Copenhagen was founded as an open interest group within SMil København, an association for sadomasochists. It still meets twice a month, with a social “Rope Café”, a themed lesson and an introduction for beginners, and it says that a beginner who comes regularly for a year and practices can reach a fairly skilled level, up to basic suspensions and play. Japanese teachers also came to the city early: in 2012 Yukimura Haruki gave his first workshop outside Japan at the Copenhagen Shibari Dojo, according to a biography published by Shibari Dojo, an episode set in context in Kinbaku goes global.

A dedicated venue

Kinbaku Lounge dates its rope community to 2013 and its venue in Valby to 2015. Its co-owner Scot, who began rope in 1997, has taught since 2012 and at the lounge since 2013. The lounge runs open rope nights on Tuesdays and Fridays, a Monday practice, drop-in evenings, courses from a first Kinbaku course to an advanced one, ichinawa “rope speed dating”, life drawing with rope and a talk series. Its site is in Danish, with many course and event names in English.

Community spaces and associations

House of Play holds a weekly Monday rope jam that opens with a short facilitated arrival and a review of the house rules, followed by open rope space and a closing circle. It is open to anyone from newcomers to experienced practitioners, and newcomers who want to learn are pointed to a separate class for absolute beginners on the first Monday of each month. Rope Space is a non-profit association dedicated to shibari, kinbaku and Japanese rope bondage. It runs a venue in Greve and a second one in Mørkøv in West Zealand, with volunteer “Space Holders”, a curriculum from beginner to advanced, and courses taught in Danish or English as needed.

Some teaching also links rope with coaching. Red Lily, the practice of the sexologist and relational coach Beatrice Gigliuto, offers private shibari sessions in English and Italian, and she is the founder and artistic director of the Queer Knots Festival, which has a Copenhagen edition scheduled for late November 2026.

Rope supply

The city also has a specialist rope shop. Ropes & Riggers, which has worked since 2017 and calls itself the Nordic region’s largest specialized shibari shop, finishes much of its rope by hand with a house-made rope paste of tsubaki oil and beeswax. Its owner, HenRigger, also chairs Rope Space Copenhagen, and Rope Space lists the shop as a sponsor.

What the city offers now

Copenhagen offers an SM-association rope group, a dedicated venue with several open nights a week, a facilitated weekly jam, non-profit courses outside the city and private coaching. Most groups publish in Danish, English or both. For more on jams and similar formats, see Rope jams, munches and salons.