Amsterdam

The Amsterdam scene

Amsterdam’s rope scene is made up of independent organizers, each with its own format: a teacher-led course program, a queer- and BIPOC-led studio, a jam space with suspension points, peer evenings and a free study group. Many of them publish their programs in English.

Courses since 2013

RopeLounge was founded in May 2013 by Asiana, who also goes by Eileen and is its principal teacher; since then it has offered workshops, classes and courses in Japanese rope bondage. Its path starts with an introduction workshop where rope is provided, people who come alone are paired with each other, and everyone tries both tying and being tied. A ten-hour beginners course follows, spread over at least two days, then two intermediate levels and an occasional introduction to semi-suspension. RopeLounge’s page adds that Asiana is regularly invited to teach and perform in the Netherlands and abroad, and works with organizations that run classes and events for marginalized groups such as LGBTQI+ and BIPOC people.

Queer-led and community spaces

Iridescent has created events, workshops, exhibitions and performances since 2021 and calls itself the city’s first independent studio for shibari and intimacy to be led by BIPOC and queer people. Its studio is in a historic building in Amsterdam-West, and it states that all its workshops and events are in English. Its evenings typically open into free rope play, in a room with bamboo and single suspension points.

Knot Here Amsterdam organizes rope events such as weekend intensives on aibunawa and on semenawa floor play, and performance nights followed by a small rope jam, for example with Kurogami and Shiawase from Turin in 2025. Its event pages for 2026 still place the rope space a short walk from Weesp station and describe twelve bamboo suspension points. The house rules say its events are about rope bondage and are not play parties, forbid alcohol and drugs, and allow the suspension points only after the organizers have checked a participant’s experience.

LIMINAL, a venue for embodied self-expression that aims to keep its gatherings low-threshold, hosts rope evenings among its other events. The qMeet Shibari Study Group, part of a Dutch gay and lesbian social network, meets once a month for free with a limit of twenty participants. It stresses that it is not a jam but a study group: people rotate partners of different genders, nationalities and ages, ask questions and redo their ties.

Rope at Pride

When Amsterdam hosted WorldPride in 2026, rope was part of the official program. A series of shibari lessons was aimed at people with fewer chances to try rope elsewhere, naming BIPOC, FLINTA and older queer people. Every session combined a two-hour introduction to tying and being tied with an hour of free practice, rope was provided and solo participants were paired. A shibari demonstration evening, in which several participants showed their personal styles, ran as part of the Fetish @ Pride program.

What the city offers now

A newcomer can start with an introduction workshop or a beginners course, join queer-led classes, or practice at jams and peer evenings, often in English. The wider European story of festivals, schools and lineages is told in Kinbaku in Europe. For what to expect at a first session, see What happens at a first shibari class.