Basel

The Basel scene

One of Basel’s rope teachers, RopuNawa, writes that he first saw shibari at a performance in Australia in 2008 and, back in Switzerland, built his foundation on the style of Osada Steve as it was then taught in the country. He names Naka Akira as a lasting influence on his aesthetics, credits Yoroi and Yagami Ren with a “less is more” approach, and lists Tifereth as a more recent inspiration. The Swiss Osada line and its dojo are described on the Zurich page.

Two studios

Tying With Friends presents two teachers on its site: RopuNawa and Isith, who has a medical and scientific background and focuses on the medical side of rope bondage, including safety, nerve damage and psychological effects. She initiated ropehelp.ch, a German-language site offering help after bad experiences in and around rope. The studio has tatami floors, exposed wooden beams and a suspension setup with bamboo and rings, and is also rented out for yoga, aerial work and meditation. Its calendar for the second half of 2026 lists a kinbaku study group for suspension roughly every two weeks, mostly on Tuesdays, partial training with uplines, floor work and hashira sessions, rope jams mostly on Fridays and Sundays, a one-day beginner workshop followed by a jam, and guest workshops.

Nawaya describes itself as a place for exchange among rope enthusiasts from Basel and the surrounding region, in a Japanese-inspired room where people can hang from bamboo, wooden beams or rings. It was founded and is led by Boundolino and Solanum. According to the team page, Boundolino has been in rope for about fourteen years, traces his style mainly to the teaching of Yukinaga Max, Nicolas Yoroi, Naka Akira and Riccardo Wildties, sees the task of a rigger or bakushi as creating an intense moment together with the person tied, and passes on his experience in workshops, performances and private lessons; Solanum brings her experience as a rope model into the workshops. In Nawaya’s mini workshops Boundolino shows a few ties to a small group of beginners and advanced students, who then practise and can ask for particular ties before the evening continues as an open-ended rope night.

Community events

Underground Ropes works more like a community group. Its beginner workshop, listed for October 2026 in a cultural cellar in the city, is booked by pairs, lets participants switch roles and points people without a partner to a matching channel in its Telegram group. Prices run on a sliding scale per pair, and staying for the rope jam afterwards earns a discount. Basel events also appear in the calendar of IG-BDSM, a Swiss association that offers a platform and advocacy for people interested in BDSM and lists events in Basel and Zurich.

What the city offers now

The listings found for this page offer several first steps: a one-day beginner workshop at Tying With Friends, a mini workshop at Nawaya or a pair workshop with Underground Ropes, followed by the rope jams that the studios list. Nawaya’s site is in German. Tying With Friends’ site is in English and German, with most class descriptions in German and some guest workshops described in English, and Underground Ropes’ October 2026 workshop listing says it is taught in English or German depending on the participants. For what to expect at a first session, see What happens at a first shibari class.