India Art Fair

Logo of India Art Fair

India Art Fair, previously known as India Art Summit, is an annual Indian modern and contemporary art fair held in New Delhi, India.[1] The fair includes paintings, sculptures, photography, mixed media, prints, drawings and video art. The first three editions of the fair were organized at Pragati Maidan,[2] one of India's largest and oldest exhibitions grounds. Starting from the 4th edition, the venue was shifted to NSIC grounds, Okhla. First held in 2008, it is India's largest art fair.[3] The art fair includes several pavilions of exhibits by galleries and solo projects by several artists. It also has an art education series with guided walks conducted by curators and students of art history. Simultaneously, there is a speakers' forum with panel of Indian and international experts from the art domain to discuss issues pertaining to the art in the region. It focuses on key issues related with the art production, art market and its reception in India.

The first fair targeted over 6000 visitors with 34 exhibiting galleries at the fair, and over 550 contemporary and modern artworks.[4] The fair rapidly gain popularity, and first three fairs had a total visitors of over 170,000, making it among the world's most popular art fairs.[5] In 2011, the India Art Fair was declared a "temporary museum" by the Ministry of Culture in order to promote the art market.[6][7] The 2012 edition featured 91 galleries and art spaces from 91 countries.[5]

History

India Art Fair is the biggest fair of modern and contemporary Indian art in the world. Its first three editions attracted over 170,000 visitors and its fourth edition held in 2012 canvassed 98 exhibitors from 20 countries. Over the years the fair has mainly showcased Indian modernists (including Bombay Progressive Artists' Group), Indian diaspora artists such as Anish Kapoor, contemporary Indian art, international artists and art from the subcontinent.[8]

India Art Fair 2011 venue

Falling in the tradition of the Venice Biennale and other global platforms for art exhibition and sale, Neha Kirpal, Founder and Director of India Art Fair realized the need for a similar platform in India to respond to the global interest in Indian art. This led to the first ever India Art Summit (IAS) in 2008. It was patronized by prominent Indian artists like Anjolie Ela Menon, S H Raza, Krishen Khanna and Keshav Malik.[4] Phillip Hoffman, chief executive of The Fine Art Fund Group from United Kingdom declared they were raising $25 million for an Indian Fine Art Fund.[4] Since then it has been happening every year with the exception of 2010. Neha Kirpal, the current owner of the India Art Fair divested 49 percent of its stake in early 2011 to two stakeholders, Sandy Angus and Will Ramsay, co-founders of the Hong Kong Art Fair, to create a larger network.[9] In 2009 the highlight of the fair was a display of Pablo Picasso's works, exhibited by Beck & Eggeling, a German gallery. The same year Lisson Gallery brought diaspora artist Anish Kapoor's sculptures to India for the first time at the art fair.[10]

Format

IAS-2009-Tentative-Floor-Layout

India Art Fair is organized in New Delhi, the capital of India and for the first three years it was held at Pragati Maidan grounds. However, in 2012 the venue was shifted to NSIC grounds, Okhla. Usually, the fair is spread over large tents and galleries exhibit their selected works in smaller exhibit spaces which are bought in advance. There are also large open spaces allotted for solo projects and art installations. The 2012 venue was designed by set designer Sumant Jayakrishnan where a custom-built space measuring 12,000 sq meters was covered by state-of-the-art German tents under the guidance of UK based production consultants 20:20 Events.[11]

Participation

In four years, the fair has managed to exhibit and facilitate the sale of many world-renowned artists like Picasso, Dalí, Auguste Rodin, Miró, Marc Chagall, Marina Abramović, M. F. Husain, S H Raza, F.N. Souza, Anish Kapoor, Damien Hirst, Anjolie Ela Menon and Thota Vaikuntam.[12] The 2012 art fair exhibited 98 galleries and artists from 20 countries namely India, Latvia, Germany, England, Norway, U.S.A and others. In Indian participation, Delhi galleries make up for 75 percent of the total exhibits and the rest consists of galleries from Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Despite the fluctuations in global art markets and the economic meltdown, Neha Kirpal, the owner and manager of the fair claimed that 50% of the galleries exhibiting in 2009 had sold at least one item at the end of the first day.[13] The Indian Art market has been estimated at a little over Rs 20 billion and to help promote revenue generation, a Collector's circle has been launched as the art fair's spin off.[9] KHOJ also organizes annual events parallel to the India Art Fair. In 2011 it organized an interview marathon session with Hans-Ulrich Obrist and several Indian artists.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Jha, Srishti (22 August 2009). "Indian Art Summit 2009: An 'arty' delight". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 31 October 2011.
  2. ↑ "2nd Indian Art Summit to have more international participation". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 31 October 2011.
  3. ↑ Karan, Fatima (25 January 2011). "Husain's work removed from India Art Summit". IBN Live. Archived from the original on 31 October 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 "Soon, art haat in India". The Times of India.
  5. 1 2 "New Delhi's India Art Fair explodes this year". CNN. 19 January 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  6. ↑ "India Art Fair is here again: Be there or be square". MyDigitalFC (Financial Chronicle). Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  7. ↑ Dalley, Jan. "Full speed ahead at the India Art Summit". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  8. ↑ "The big draws at the India Art Summit". Wall Street Journal. 21 January 2011. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  9. 1 2 "1,000 artists, 20 countries - India Art Fair cometh". Zee News. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  10. ↑ "Get ready for a close brush with World Art". The Times of India. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  11. ↑ Adhikari, Jhupu. "India Art Fair is here again: Be there or be square". Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  12. ↑ Ghose, Anindita. "Picasso, Rodin work on sale at India Art Summit". Live Mint. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  13. ↑ Raaj, Neelam (21 August 2009). "Sales buoy mood at Art Summit". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  14. ↑ "kHOJ presents the KHOJ Marathon by Hans Ulrich Obrist". India PR wire. Retrieved 21 January 2012.

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