Mumbai to host festival of erotic arts that explores the depths of sexuality

Come weekend and the city will witness an interesting festival that explores several elements of erotic arts Called Erotikama this weekend festival will include erotic photography workshop with Danny Guy erotic writing workshop with Aarti V Raman erotic narration workshop with Sheena Khalid a photography exhibition and experimental sessions like ishq map chambers and core desire walkthroughSheena Khalid will conduct an erotic narration workshop Pic courtesyInstagramExploring eroticismConducted 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 ldquoWhen most people talk of erotica they usually think about sex penetration and the pinovaginal act But therersquos 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 genitalsrdquo says Aili Seghetti founder of TIC So the idea was to explore expressions of eroticism beyond all of thisSeghetti points out that as their primary business is coaching people in intimacy they noticed that a lot of their clientsrsquo desires were references from the West or from pornography ldquoBut there are so many different erotic experiences out there that are beyond whatrsquos seen in the media in the mainstream and thatrsquos what we want to explorerdquo she shares Hence photography writing storytelling exhibitions and experiences have been chosen for this festParticipants are vetted thoroughly that include detailed phone callsParticipation parametersBut not everyone can participate in Erotikama as therersquos an exhaustive vetting process which involves filling forms and detailed phone calls ldquoWe 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 orientationsrdquo 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 reversibleldquoThe fest preparations have been going on for several months now It is Erotikamarsquos 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 JhaThe festivalrsquos ishq map chambers provides safe spaces to explore passion romance kink and spiritualitySaturday 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 ldquoA total of 50 stunning shots will be uprdquo says the creative headExperience to understandIn order to offer participants with something thatrsquos experiential too there are ishq map chambers and a core desire walkthrough The private chambers offer experiences based on moods mdash passion romance kink and spirituality ldquoThese experiences tap into the four pillars of eroticism namely touch eye contact breathing and action These pillars change as per the chamberrdquo explains the founder In each chamber one can choose to either participate in a scene or watch a scene performed by the facilitatorsThe 15minute 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 ldquoThe 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 surfacerdquo explains Seghetti adding that as the participants dig deeper they start understanding their fantasies ldquoItrsquos an internal journeyrdquo she saysAili Seghetti and Akshay JhaAll 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 ldquoWhat we really want people to feel is everything that they desire as long as they donrsquot hurt anyone is absolutely okay We want people to accept themselves mdash their feelings wants and desires We want them to be nonjudgmental 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 arerdquoJha signs off On September 16 and 17At Bandra and Lower ParelLog on to theintimacycuratorCost Rs 2500 exhibition and experiences and Rs 4000 each workshop