India Art Fair, an initiative taken in the year 2008 focuses on creating a platform for modern and contemporary art and for the collaboration between artist, galleries and collectors. The ninth edition of this art fair which was opened for the public on February 2, is showcasing established and emerging artists and galleries from the region on the international platform with the aim of nurturing global interest in South Asian art.
This fair is using the opportunity of having participants galleries like Britto Arts Trusts from Dhaka, Nepal Art Council from Kathmandu, Theertha International Artists’ Collective from Colombo and Blueprint 12 from New Dehli to organize intimate conversations between the regional and foreigner collectors. Representativies of Indian art and new exhibitors from around the world who are keen to develop relationships with Indian arts including Kalfayan Galleries from Athens, 1+1 Gallery and Grey Noise Gallery from Dubai, Sabrina Amrani from Madrid, Lukas Feichtner Galerie from Vienna, Photolnk from Delhi and TARK from Mumbai are also present in this Art Fair.
The exhibitions include an extensive variety of arts, from works of renowned artist like M.F. Hussain to the sketches of the 20th century political artist Chittaprosad Bhattacharya. Art projects by artists like Sudarshan Shetty, Reena Saini Kalkat, Avinash Veeraraghavan, Rathin Barman, Parul Gupta, Kanu Gandhi and Hemant Sreekumar are presented in the ‘Art Projects Programme’, spanning in both indoor and outdoor.
This year the Art Fair has created a new space named ‘Vernacular in Flux’ which showcases the vernacular arts with a focus on Gond, Madhubani and Mysore painting. The fair is also conducting ‘Art on Film’ programme. Through this initiative the filmmakers and the visual artists working across different genres will be able to push the boundaries of their respective media.
‘BMW Art Talk’ is another interesting section of this fair. In this section the Head of Cultural Engagement BMW Group, Thomas Girst and the President and Director of the Sharjah Foundation, Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi looks at the different fields of collecting. The presence of the famous collectors Jean-Conrad from France, Frederic de Goldschmidt from Brussels and one of India’s leading art collectors, Anurag Khanna is going to enrich the session.
Pooja Sood, Director of Khoj International Artists Association(New Delhi), Alessio Antonelli, the Director of Gasworks(London) and Boon-Hui Tan, Director of Asia Society Museum(Singapore) will be sharing their thoughts in a session named ‘Perspectives from Networks of South Asian Art’ on the last day of this three-day fair.
On 24th January, 2017 Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and America’s new President Donald Trump discussed about the security situation in South and Central Asia and resolved that India and USA will “stand shoulder to shoulder” to fight global terrorism. Now the India Art Fair is focusing on the arts of South Asia. In one hand safety and security, on the other hand getting featured in an international platform, both will be adding to the development of South Asia.
