Conducted by The Intimacy Curator (TIC), a space that provides dating and intimacy coaching, the festival aims to create a space that explores Indian ideas of eroticism. “When most people talk of erotica, they usually think about sex, penetration and the pino-vaginal act. But there’s a wider spectrum of desire, which could be in the form of fetishes, sensuality in general, and sensuality around parts of the body that are not the genitals,” says Aili Seghetti, founder of TIC. So, the idea was to explore expressions of eroticism beyond all of this.

Seghetti points out that as their primary business is coaching people in intimacy, they noticed that a lot of their clients’ desires were references from the West or from pornography. “But there are so many different erotic experiences out there that are beyond what’s seen in the media, in the mainstream; and that’s what we want to explore,” she shares. Hence, photography, writing, storytelling, exhibitions and experiences have been chosen for this fest.

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Participants are vetted thoroughly that include detailed phone calls

Participation parameters

But not everyone can participate in Erotikama, as there’s an exhaustive vetting process, which involves filling forms and detailed phone calls. “We conduct a phone interview with people who would like to participate in this festival as one of our primary responsibilities is to create a safe space for every attendee. These calls can last for as long as 30 minutes, where we talk and educate them about consent, gender and sexual orientations,” explains Akshay Jha, creative head of TIC. He adds that it is important for the participants to understand the concept of consent and that consent is reversible.

“The fest preparations have been going on for several months now. It is Erotikama’s first edition, and no one has ever conducted any event like this in India. Some 300 people have shown interest in this festival, but only 100 to 120 people will be accepted, informs Jha.

The festival’s ishq map chambers provides safe spaces to explore passion, romance, kink and spirituality

Saturday will have a photography workshop by Danny Guy, which will be attended by 20 participants, with the presence of five models. Participants will be asked to click pictures of the models and the best few will be part of the exhibition on Sunday. Pictures by photographers Wanda Hendricks, Shreya Shetty and Guy will also be on display; along with a few frames by the participants. “A total of 50 stunning shots will be up,” says the creative head. 

Experience to understand

In order to offer participants with something that’s experiential too, there are ishq map chambers and a core desire walkthrough. The private chambers offer experiences based on moods — passion, romance, kink and spirituality. “These experiences tap into the four pillars of eroticism namely touch, eye contact, breathing and action. These pillars change as per the chamber,” explains the founder. In each chamber, one can choose to either participate in a scene or watch a scene performed by the facilitators.

The 15-minute core desire walkthrough session is a visualisation exercise, where the participants are asked to sit on a chair,  close their eyes and visualise an erotic experience. “The idea is to nudge them to explore intimacy by asking themselves why do you want to get intimate with someone and where is it coming from? We ask them to picture these questions and be open to the answers that can possibly surface,” explains Seghetti, adding that as the participants dig deeper, they start understanding their fantasies. “It’s an internal journey,” she says.

Aili Seghetti and Akshay Jha

All in all, this festival of erotic arts will set in motion a dialogue exchange with oneself and others around eroticism, desires, consent, pleasure and sexual fantasies. “What we really want people to feel is everything that they desire, as long as they don’t hurt anyone, is absolutely okay. We want people to accept themselves — their feelings, wants and desires. We want them to be non-judgmental about what brings them pleasure. The hope is that space will give people the opportunity to be themselves, so that when they leave, they feel that they are completely accepted for who they are,” 
Jha signs off.       

On: September 16 and 17
At: Bandra and Lower Parel 
Log on to: @theintimacycurator
Cost: Rs 2,500 (exhibition and experiences) and Rs 4,000 (each workshop)