Competing and winning the national level tender process to execute the 2015 Indigenous Terra Madre; the world’s largest gathering of indigenous peoples from 50+ countries. The scope of work included leading the communications team, strategizing business partnerships, devising the campaign and activation strategies, working with the government to ensure the smooth execution of the 5-day event, designing the opening and closing ceremonies which more than 100,000 attended and was covered on national television, resource mobilisation and complete event execution. The event also received special greetings through a video message were sent in by HRH Prince Charles of Wales.
Indigenous Terra Madre (ITM), organised for the first time in Sweden, was Slow Food's first international event dedicated entirely for indigenous people
We partnered with North East Slow Food & Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS) to plan and execute its second edition in India in the enchanted city of Shillong, Meghalaya
The brief was to create a platform which celebrates the wonderful cultural and biological diversity of indigenous communities as expressed in their songs, dances, attires, folklores and food systems
We entirely conceptualised and executed the five-day long event which included the opening ceremony, conference events, tasting workshops, field visits in 10 villages, food festival and the closing ceremony.
To ensure the aptly coined theme ‘The Future We Want’, we designed the overall communication around the agro-diversity and slow food to produce a stunning experience
Along with plenary speeches and thematic track sessions, delegates got a chance to taste native flavours from around the world through four workshops on edible insects, wild herbs and grains, honeys and fermented foods
Apart from planning the entire logistics and travel management of more than 600 delegates, we also created an exclusive e-ticketing system and website for this festival
The event kicked off with a high voltage opening ceremony at the scenic sprawling campus of North Eastern Hill University, Shillong
It witnessed some powerful performances by the sand story tellers of Vanuatu (near Fiji), Shillong Chamber Choir, one of India’s foremost contemporary dancers Astad Deboo and the Shillong Choral society, featuring 122 singers
It also saw a first ever performance by the Mongolian Throat Singers in India
Taste workshops were thematically organised to introduce participants to wild, leafy, edible food plants that are neglected and underutilised
The event concluded with a ravishing closing ceremony held in the Sacred Groves of Mawphlang, which saw a nature coming alive with an abstract art of 3D mapping on the forest
600 representatives of 140 tribes from 58 countries around the world came together for an unparalleled celebration of indigenous culture at this event which is reviewed by the Guinness Book of World Records
The grand five-day long event was staged across an exposition area of over 90,000 sq. ft.
We thoroughly reshaped the picturesque Mawphlang Sacred Groves into an iconic venue sound and light show to enthral the spectacular gathering of over 60,000 people.
“We were impressed by the creativity of the young, energetic team responding to the ever changing dynamics, dealing with multiple stakeholders – both the venues (NEHU & Mawphlang) delivered a wow factor! Team at Fountainhead were partners in true sense right from the planning stages all the way to the splendid restoration they did to ensure a clean footprint for both the venues – I felt the camaraderie in having partnered with such an agency and look forward to working with them again.”
Bibhudutta Sahu
Project Director
NESFAS
