Anita Chhiba started the Instagram page Diet Paratha back in 2017, envisioning a platform to showcase artistic work by South Asian artists. Celebrating talent across the arts, the page has now amassed a following of a whopping forty-five thousand. Growing up with the lack of outlets showcasing creatives from the subcontinent was irksome for Anita and she felt this innate need to exhibit her archive of images that housed some immensely talented creatives. We’re in conversation with the founder of Diet Paratha who tells us more about her intent, what’s in store for the future, and more.
Tell us about what the page stands for?
Diet Paratha is for the people. It’s about celebrating brown people for who they are, in their own creative right, without the stereotypes placed on us by western mainstream media. We don’t have to be wearing saree and bangles and bindis, we don’t have to reference our culture in everything we do — being brown is enough. The platform is truly dedicated to celebrating brown artists making great work.
Take us through your curation process.
To keep up the high standard, I really only post work that I wish I did myself in some capacity. The research process revolves around engaging with brown creatives throughout the industry. So my ‘following feed’ is really curated.
Where do you see the page in the near future? How do you plan to grow the model?
Diet Paratha has definitely grown from the Instagram account that it was in 2017. Today Diet Paratha consults on projects for some of the biggest brands in the world and helps connect great South Asian artists with great projects. We've partnered with Burberry, curated an issue in Vogue. We've just partnered with Johnnie Walker and Simone Ashley, who are supporting our mentoring programme this year.
Pushing the needle forward, Diet Paratha Family Tree Mentoring has been a massive part of delivering on our mission and ethos in a tangible way. Our family tree mentoring programme pairs accomplished South Asian creative professionals across the globe with the next generation of South Asian creatives. The feedback and ripple effect of this initiative has been so inspiring to watch, and it's truly amazing to see the next generation of brown artists finally have a culturally competent space to nurture their work and learn about the industry.
What do you think the fashion of now should look like?
With the Diet Paratha, fashion has always been a really central theme and played a huge role in the work I enjoyed curating. Fashion is such an open-ended and deeply personal form of artistic expression. The fashion of now should be reflective of the society of now.
Finally, what's keeping you busy right now?
We've just released the Bold Steps Campaign with Johnnie Walker and Simone Ashley. Alongside the film, Johnnie Walker will be sponsoring the competition (details are below) which feeds into the Diet Paratha Family Tree Mentoring Scheme.
Applicants based in GB, who are 18 years of age and over, are invited to submit a design for a limited-edition Johnnie Walker Black bottle inspired by their own creative expression. One winning applicant will be chosen to receive: £5,000 to put towards their creative practice in 2023
Their winning design to be sold on a limited-edition bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label Whisky. Exclusive 1-on-1 mentoring with Art Director Manu Pillai (@haiimmanu). Go to https://dietparatha.com/Johnnie-Walker-Mentoring for full terms and conditions, more info and to enter.
Words Unnati Saini
Date 15-02-2023