Indian art in Madrid

ARTS DIARY

For lovers of art Madrid is a place of pilgrimage. Its museums harbour collections of Western art unequalled in Europe. So it is a good place to hold one of the world’s major annual art fairs: ARCOmadrid.

The name is a contraction of Arte Contemporaneo, or contemporary art. Now in its 28th year, ARCO 2009, scheduled for February 11-16, 2009, will feature India as the “guest country” and focus on India’s modern and contemporary art scene. Past guests include USA, Latin America (jointly), Germany, Mexico, Korea and Brazil.

“India is one of the countries on the planet we can consider being creator of an original style,” explains Luis Eduardo Cortés, chairman of IFEMA, the Madrid trade fair authority, who once also supervised art purchases for public buildings in Madrid. “It’s going to be very interesting for Spanish people to see the contemporary art of India.”

“We have 190,000 visitors,” says Lourdes Fernández, ARCO’s director, and although “not all are collectors, it’s a question of [building] knowledge”.

With the help of curator (and artist) Bose Krishnamachari, ARCO invited 13 Indian galleries to Madrid. Except one each from Bengaluru and Kochi, all are from Delhi and Mumbai. “We invite them for free,” says Fernández, and add to the fair’s India quotient with cultural shows at venues in Madrid.

“ARCO is one of the important fairs in Europe,” says Cortés. Fernández adds, “Many of the galleries in India go for contemporary art fairs in Hong Kong, Asia, North America. We want our fair to open up new markets.”

Despite the threat of recession “I don’t think [art] prices are down,” says Fernández. Rather, “the auction houses are slowing down”. Cortés takes a longer view: “In the next two-three years, we’ll reach the rational prices not only in contemporary art but in everything — housing, cars — the real price of things.”

Apart from Panorama:India and the general show, there is a Solo Projects section, Performing ARCO, for performance art, and Expanded Box, for multimedia and technology-based art.