ShibariTurkey (ShibariTürk)

ShibariTurkey began in June 2018 as a rope project under the name ShibariTürk, with the stated aim of developing shibari in Turkey. It describes itself as a platform that combines rope teaching with workshops, themed parties, media and art projects and a shop. Co-founder Serkan Taşçı leads the training; other team members named on its site include Janet and Lena.

Training

Classes take place in the group’s own studio. The 2026 foundation program has two stages, each of three three-hour lessons. Shibari 101 runs from history, consent, negotiation, health and risk, and rope handling (101A), through double-column ties, frictions and first torso and leg forms (101B), to an introduction to the takate kote, planning a floor scene, and handling aftercare and rope drop (101C). Shibari 102 focuses on floor forms: pressure distribution and checks, advanced frictions, hip harnesses, transitions and managing longer sequences safely. Graduates can move on to advanced ties, scene design and pre-suspension material, and get priority for closed practice groups and mentoring. Solo participants are paired by the studio. The site says anatomy and health are taught by a doctor and a nurse, legal topics by lawyers, and hard points and rigging safety by an occupational-safety specialist and mountaineering instructors, with English support for international students.

Private lessons last two hours, are scheduled on request and do not require a partner, since a model can assist. Students who take regular private lessons may join group training for free. People who have attended its trainings or munches can use free Rope Day and Rope Jam practice sessions; a 2022 jam page described a sober, no-photography space for eight people with two suspension areas and two floor areas.

Community and media

The group says it has built communities through workshops in Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara and describes its approach as queer and feminist. Its themed parties, four a year, are held at partner nightclubs. Yavuz Kurtulmuş’s short films Shibari Turk I and II, about the group, have screened at festivals and cultural programs in Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Poland and Cyprus.

In September 2026, according to the Swiss rope site Seilsport.ch, content from ShibariTurkey’s social-media account was put to people questioned by police in Ankara during a wider investigation of LGBTİ+ organizations; the same article stresses that there is no solid evidence the group has been banned.