Anatomie Studio
Full-time shibari school in a Peckham railway arch, founded in 2015 and describing itself as the UK’s first dedicated rope teaching space.
Anatomie Studio began in June 2015, when Anna Bones and Fred Hatt opened their home as a relaxed place to meet people and practise Japanese-inspired rope bondage. Early rope jams drew 15 to 25 people an evening into a 500-square-foot space in Peckham. In June 2018 the studio moved into a larger railway arch next to Queens Road Peckham station, and the studio says jam attendance has since grown to 30 to 60 people a night. During the 2020 lockdowns it switched to online classes, and rope sales through its own shop kept it running.
The founders met in London in 2013 and describe themselves as former academics who stress safe, thoughtful and sustainable practice. Anna Bones focuses on teaching beginners; Fred Hatt’s teaching centres on the technical “how” and “why” of rope, with a liking for transitions and predicaments. A team of more than 20 staff and volunteers, among them Rory Ropes and Jenni Noon, helps run the space and shapes its policies.
How the teaching builds. Newcomers start at the Thursday Beginners Rope Jam: a welcome, a hands-on taster class of about 90 minutes, then open floor time, with communal rope provided and no partner needed. The structured route is the Discover Shibari series, which the studio has run for about ten years. Its four courses, usually held over a weekend and capped at 12 to 14 pairs, move from single and double column ties, futomomo and takate kote, through floor ties, to partial suspension (harnesses, uplines, lock-offs) and finally full suspension and transitions. Consent, communication and risk are part of the first course.
Practice and community. The Tuesday open jam is unstructured practice for people with some rope experience. On 9 November 2026 the studio listed the Tuesday jam at £15 and the Thursday beginners’ jam at £18 per person, with a Five Thursdays pass and a Flexi Membership (£145 for 12 credits) bringing the cost down. Evening skill workshops cover harnesses, rope handling, movement, anatomy and communication, and “Drawn to Rope” is a bi-monthly life-drawing session with rope performers, curated by the artist InkyLayla.
The studio states that rope is for everybody regardless of age, background, gender or sexuality, notes that queer people have always been a large part of its community, and publishes a code of conduct and etiquette guidance on consent. It also runs the Shibari Store rope shop and is an affiliate partner of the online tutorial library Shibari Study, on which the two founders teach.