One half of IBTIDA, the cultural evening set to take stage this weekend, Tanvi was raised in a musical household where her mother was a classically trained singer. Also being an old soul who is a cultural custodian and storyteller at heart, Tanvi wanted to create a place where 'we celebrate all things India and felicitate the artists', she says. 'It was a thoughtfully crafted and empathetic re-sponse to a noticeable gap in the cultural landscape that I saw. The artists in India needed a platform where they are celebrated with grandeur moving away from the auditoriums and making them feel special. IBTIDA was born from all thing’s revival.'
IBTIDA is essentially an evening to celebrate the arts. First started around four years ago, Tanvi Singh Bhatia and Anubhav Jain together created it as a platform to support homegrown artists, artisans and historical sites. It is an immersive evening that blends art, music, food, spirits, and aesthetics. The duo tells us what to look forward to.
How did you come about creating IBTIDA?
Anubhav: The beginning of IBTIDA has been bringing back the restoration of our art our culture not just through viewing and observing but tangibly feeling it. We ensure our baithaks are at an intimate space and we have been successful in achieving that personal reputation with our audience our guests and even the artists, because it is one of a kind. Art for us in terms of liberal, community, music, food and everything around us is something we really intend garner a deeper and more profound connection. We tend achieve more in the forthcoming year.
Where did you guys first meet?
Tanvi: We both come from the innate brand world & have been in brand storytelling for the last 15 years so we decided to make a cultural IP moving away from concerts & gigs. Brining the old mehfils & the fact that you are sitting in a darbar & recreating the whole Pakeezah feeling in the times we are living today. The proximity of sitting next to each other, having a guftagoo (conversation) with the artist makes the evening at IBTIDA. We want to recreate the old era, recipes/food & music which is lost in time today. We also want to educate the younger audience on what the golden years were, the verses in a ghazal, discipline in giving music and its form the respect it deserves.
You started it four years ago and then the pandemic happened, what has changed since then?
A: The pandemic has not brought much of a change but infact it has brought much more closeness within the community itself. It did bring a gap where everything was about digital communications and events, where we totally barred ourselves from doing it. At IBTIDA it is always about feeling, sharing emotions at that particular space. So we could sense a lot of craving, desire for us to host more events. It has been a fabulous journey with great response with our baithaks which are the small format infact the larger format which is Jhoom which we plan to do on 13th of January caters to 600 people, the response has been very overwhelming yet inviting.
Can you talk a little about your curatorial process?
A: Everything at IBTIDA from start to the end is very handpicked, thoughtfully done. We meticulously orchestrate a cohesive narrative throughout our ecosystem, crafting a seamless story, incorporating themed campaigns with photoshoots, events, and post-event elements, with meticulous attention to ensuring the decor aligns harmoniously with the chosen theme and mood. The people are dressed in ethnic wear which is a beautiful sight. All the brands definitely restore the Made in India process. The menu for food and drinks is curated with names inspired by songs.
T: The curation of the finest details is the soul of what has made us, from the concept of each mehfil & story about it, the artist, making each guest feel like they are a part of the family. People & Culture & Relationships play a very important role at IBTIDA- Ek Mehfil ecosystem & we have gradually built our little world on these pillars. The curation goes to the finest details like even the team/accompanying artists of the artists are very important to us & given due respect these core values makes IBTIDA. Made In India brands play the backbone for the curation too where we al-ways have brands in textile, home & spirits & bring them together for the audience to experience
There is a lot of thought that goes in choosing a spot as well…
A: The venue plays a huge role with IBTIDA, the height and width matter to ensure we have the closeness with the audience. The height plays a huge role cause of the way we align the chande-lier and the décor with the height of the artist so it has a seamless wavelength between artists and the guests. Our baithaks so far have been done in beautiful locations such as SOHO House, Jolies in South Mumbai, both had vibe to create an intimate and conversational gathering with artists like Shilpa Rao, Rekha Bharadwaj and Kavita Seth. The last mehfil in Delhi we did at 1AQ which at a beautiful art gallery farm house and Amaara Farms which beautiful turf garden farmhouse with a beautiful tree. We always ensure there is some element of subject we can use in the décor; it has a beautiful thoughtfulness to that.
Words Hansika Lohani
Date 09.01.2024
