Eroticism has shaped human culture for millennia, weaving through art, literature, music and social life in ways that go beyond simple anatomy. In ancient South Asian literature such as the Kama Sutra, desire and sensual pleasure were treated as dimensions of everyday life alongside ethics and friendship. Greek and Roman poets figured erotic desire into their work as an angle on longing and human connection that could be as compelling as any political or spiritual theme. Across traditions, writers and artists used the erotic to frame character and meaning in stories before modern ideas of sex as a private act took hold.

Eroticism, hence, differs from sex itself. Sex names physical contact and bodies. Eroticism describes the conditions around them; the anticipation, perception and enactment of desire within social and psychological milieu. It exists in narrative and representation as well as in touch. Literature from Ovid to Kalidasa, modern novels and cinema all frame eroticism as a social and aesthetic force.Between 8:00 and 11:00 PM, the Intimacy Room will host one-on-one coaching sessions, allowing private conversation about desire, boundaries, communication and relationships with a trained coach. Throughout the evening, an intimacy market will showcase offerings from erotic artists, sexual wellness brands and intimate apparel designers, creating a space to explore and converse around pleasure and erotic expression.

This understanding of eroticism as something encountered through interaction informs an event taking place in Mumbai this Valentine’s month. On 13th February at 3 Art House in Khar West, Mumbai, The Intimacy Curator presents a sequence of experiences designed to shift how people engage with intimacy. The programme begins at 5:00 PM with Sensorial Play, a blindfolded touch exercise that invites participants to reconnect with pleasure, touch, and embodied awareness with trained facilitators. From 7:00 PM there is Erotic Sketching, where attendees are provided paper and pencils to draw a live model, foregrounding creativity and observation in a relaxed setting.

Between 8:00 and 11:00 PM, the Intimacy Room will host one-on-one coaching sessions, allowing private conversation about desire, boundaries, communication and relationships with a trained coach. Throughout the evening, an intimacy market will showcase offerings from erotic artists, sexual wellness brands and intimate apparel designers, creating a space to explore and converse around pleasure and erotic expression.

The event is curated by The Intimacy Curator, a Mumbai-based practice founded by intimacy coach Aili Seghetti. The platform offers individual and couples coaching, workshops and curated experiences focused on desire, communication and relationship dynamics. Its work spans facilitated encounters and public programmes designed to create spaces for discussing and experiencing intimacy. Their work covers a broad range of concerns, including performance anxiety, mismatched desire, polyamory and kink exploration, and also offers experiential formats like cuddle therapy and dating surrogacy. 

Through this event, they propose eroticism as a social language — one that can be encountered through touch, art and conversation, and revisited outside the narrow expectations that often accompany Valentine’s Day.

The Intimacy Pop up is taking place at 3 Art House, Khar West, Mumbai on February 13. Follow The Intimacy Curator here for more details.

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