Coven Cordes
Queer shibari collective and association. Most of its classes and socials are held as a chosen-membership space without cisgender men, with occasional LGBTQI or allies-inclusive events such as mixed jams.
Coven Cordes is a queer shibari collective in Lyon. Its home page describes shibari as a form of bondage of Japanese origin for sharing emotions and creating intimacy through rope, practiced in many ways, from artistic and sensual to erotic or sadomasochistic. Its classes are meant for people who tie and people who are tied, beginners and experienced alike, and it encourages students to learn from others, ask questions and develop their own idea of shibari.
Most of its events are held in “chosen membership” (mixité choisie) without cisgender men. The collective explains this as bringing together people from one or more minorities who share experiences, to offer a safer place than everyday life. It says it believes in self-determination: whatever a person’s gender expression, pronouns or stage of transition, they are welcome in that space, and people unsure can ask the collective directly. From time to time it runs events open to all LGBTQI people or to allies as well, and it states that its use of chosen membership is not opposed to mixed spaces elsewhere.
The program uses six formats: beginner classes, intermediate classes, all-level classes, workshops, rope jams and public sessions combined with a jam; tags mark sessions on self-tying, on rope bottoming and those open to allies. Classes are taught in pairs by the collective’s teachers. The November and December 2026 agenda shows the mix: an introduction to shibari at Café Rosa, an intermediate class on a twisted agura, an all-level class on pressure points, a two-date beginner workshop, a jam, and an all-level class on a suspendable calf lacing. Most of these took place at the Lyon Shibari space in the 3rd arrondissement, and each listing shows how many of 12 to 20 places are left.
The collective’s teaching lead is Axel, who works as Queerbaku. His own site says he first picked up rope in 2017, met Coven Cordes in 2020 and began teaching there, and is now responsible for designing its courses and following students’ progress. He names Akechi Kanna, Akechi Kagura, Lief Bound, Icarus, Ropemarks and Spring among the teachers he trained with, and describes his own tying as emotional and fluid. The site is in French and is for adults only.