Before the pandemic, summers generally meant a dull season for the arts in India as the heat drove the artists and gallerists to cooler climes in the western hemisphere. But this summer, the traffic has been reversed as the India Art Fair returns to its physical format from April 28 to May 1.
Traditionally, the fair is held in February, but it wasn't held last year due to the pandemic and had to be rescheduled for this edition.
"There is so much pent-up energy in people to go out and interact that the fair's timing is not likely to have any adverse impact," said Jaya Asokan, fair director. "At the gallery openings and other events, people are coming out in big numbers; that's a positive sign."
This is Asokan's first edition as the fair director—she was appointed to the position in April 2021. Asokan hopes to develop the fair's footprint throughout the year beyond the intense activity at the actual event.
"The pandemic has been a great learning experience for everybody globally. We want to pivot the fair to not just four days but extend it beyond to engage with stakeholders even outside the traditional art hubs of New Delhi and Mumbai, to include cities like Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Pune.
"Even in the run-up to the fair, we have been conducting walkthroughs, pop-ups, collectors' weekends, workshops, and other such events to make greater inroads into the local arts scene, and even globally," said Asokan.
Seventy-nine exhibitors will participate in the fair across different segments, including 14 nonprofit foundations and institutions like Kochi Biennale Foundation, Chennai Photo Biennale, Serendipity Arts Foundation, and others.
Almost all the top Indian galleries will be in attendance. Seven will make their debut: APRE Art House (Mumbai), Art Incept (Gurugram/ New Delhi), Gallery Art Exposure (Kolkata), Modern Art Gallery. Ojas Art and Terrain.art (all New Delhi) and Vida Heydari Contemporary (Pune).
Apart from the fair's main segment, other distinct sections include Focus, Platform, Institutions, The Studio and In Memoriam (remembering Satish Gujral, who passed away in 2020). Besides, there will be outdoor projects, talks, and even a performance art programme.
The BMW partnership with the India Art Fair is presenting a new commission titled, The Future is Born of Art. This commission was awarded in March 2022 to Indian artist, Faiza Hasan to design a wrap for BMW's first all-electric car in India, IX, which will be on display at the fair's BMW lounge.
Outside the fairgrounds, the city's top galleries promise almost equal excitement by mounting their biggest shows of the year to coincide with the fair. The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art has already launched its two seminal solos: K. Ramanujam: Into The Moonlight Parade… and Atul Dodiya: Walking With The Waves.
Vadehra Art Gallery is showcasing a solo exhibition by the award-winning artist, N. S. Harsha, titled Stomach Studio, while Gallery Espace presents a solo exhibition of recent works by Manisha Gera Baswani, titled …and the dots connect now. Other must-visit shows during the period will be Flotsam (1926-2018), a solo by Al-An deSouza at Talwar Gallery; Shruti Mahajan's solo, titled Between Brackets | In Touch Edition 07, at Shrine Empire; and Pandit Khairnar's recent works in an exhibition titled Between Light and Shadow: Travels Through an Indian Landscape, at Gallery Threshold.
The 13th edition of the fair will be held at its usual venue, the NSIC Grounds, Okhla, New Delhi. Details on entry available on www.indiaartfair.in
The writer is a New Delhi-based journalist, editor and arts consultant.