India Art Fair is expanding to become a year-round brand: Jaya Asokan

India Art Fair returns after a year's gap in February 2022

India Art Fair (IAF), the country’s biggest exhibition of contemporary and modern art from South Asia, returns after a year’s gap in February 2022. This edition of the annual affair, which is held in New Delhi, will be bigger with the IAF aspiring to become a year-round brand, Jaya Asokan, the new fair director who took over in April this year, tells Veenu Sandhu. Edited excerpts: 

India Art Fair is returning after a gap year because of Covid. How will it be different this time round?

It was important to us to evolve with a changing world, and take time to think about our position in the art world. We are expanding beyond the four days of the fair, and becoming a year-round brand, focusing on championing art and artists from India and South Asia through our editorial, artist commissions, pop-ups and a whole host of new programming initiatives, both online and offline.

Could you give a sense of the artists and galleries, Indian and international, participating in the 13th edition?

India Art Fair’s facade will be transformed into a work of art by an Indian artist who will be selected through an open call led by The Gujral Foundation and Artdemic. We’re keen to create as many opportunities for our artists as possible, and look forward to presenting a fresh, new creative voice.

Within the exhibition halls, visitors can expect to find an incredible line-up of 70+ galleries and institutions participating this year, representing a broad mix of Indian and international artists. Overall, we’ve had an excellent response from our exhibitors, which is a great sign about the excitement in the art world to return to business and experience art socially and in person.

From legacy names such as Vadehra Art Gallery, DAG (both Delhi), Experimenter (Kolkata) and Jhaveri Contemporary (Mumbai) to new participants including Vida Heydari Gallery (Pune), Gallery Art Exposure (Kolkata) and Art Incept (Delhi), galleries will stage iconic and historic Indian masterpieces, alongside cutting-edge contemporary works and outdoor art projects. It has also been fantastic to see galleries like Nature Morte, Gallery Espace, Emami Art and Blueprint12 who have put forward ambitious proposals to show-off their expanded roster of artists and fresh, new works created in the past year.

Our Platform section will get an uplift under Delhi-based curator Amit Kumar Jain’s vision and shine a spotlight on traditional Indian art forms. Rich in history yet contemporary in outlook and appeal, the works on display will range from masterpieces of Madhubani art from Bihar and textiles from West Punjab to primitive masks, giving the section the attention it deserves.

Some of India’s biggest cultural festivals, Kochi Biennale Foundation, Serendipity Arts Foundation and Chennai Photo Biennale will have a strong presence in the fair, as well as foundations such as artist Nikhil Chopra-led performance hub HH Arts Spaces, Kolkata Centre of Creativity, which will show an exhibition on the artistic genius of Satyajit Ray, and Terrain Art, which will present new NFTs by Indian artists.

Have you also planned workshops and one-on-one sessions with artists? And will these be held in a physical or virtual space?

We have held virtual artist-led specialist workshops throughout this year in an effort to bring art into people’s everyday lives, and to provide opportunities for our audience to channel their creativity especially in a year as challenging as this. We see it as a way to take art out of the fair and into personal, community life! These workshops, led by young artists like Soghra Khurasani, have been extremely successful and positive, with participants staying in touch and sharing their work with us even after the workshop. At the fair, our four Artists in Residence –– Haroun Hayward, Indu Antony, Gurjeet Singh and Arpita Akhanda — each with unique specialisms in paper, photography, textile and so on, will lead in-person sessions in a dedicated workshop space. The hope is to involve visitors in not just looking at but also making art.

Since it is returning in a physical avatar, what are the things/logistics that you are keeping in mind and how would the visits to the fair be organised to ensure Covid safety?

Health and safety is of paramount importance for us. We have strict protocols in place, starting with mandatory double vaccination to enter the fair premises to limiting daily capacity. Inside the exhibition halls, the aisles will be wider to ensure safe distance, smooth visitor navigation and breathing space, as well as clear signage to enforce the use of masks and sanitisers. The list goes on — we are being proactive in thinking about and planning ahead.

Would there be an opportunity for virtual viewing?

As part of our expansion into a year-round presence, we are growing digitally with an aim to make Indian and South Asian art as widely accessible as possible with our website as the anchor and window to India Art Fair – with artist profiles, films, interviews and features telling stories of Indian and South Asian artists and art to engage, educate and inspire. We also hope to support research and transparency in the art market through the Archive section.

For those looking to take baby steps into the art world, we list events and exhibitions taking place in some of India’s most-loved galleries, museums and alternative art space under the IAF Parallel programme. Our newly launched Noticeboard highlights open calls, residencies, grants and job opportunities to watch out for, and has also grown into an important go-to source for artists and art-professionals working in the region. We are also gradually opening up Archives of the fair’s past editions on our website to encourage research and transparency in the India art market.

Besides the main venue (NSIC Exhibition Grounds, New Delhi), would there be other satellite exhibitions and events?

Like every fair year, we have some fantastic shows happening alongside India Art Fair as part of the IAF Parallel programme. Institutions like Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) and the Gujral Foundation will be showing major international artists for the first time ever in India — including an impressive exhibition of photography by KNMA and the French Institute, and light projections by Spanish artist Javier Rivera presented by the Gujral Foundation in Sundar Nursery, a public heritage space in Central Delhi.

Vadehra Art Gallery will be showing solo shows of two Indian figurative painters, NS Harsha and Manjit Bawa, both known for their unique treatment of human bodies. Another one of India’s greats, Jayashree Chakravarty and her intricate and dense nature inspired works will be on show at Akar Prakar. Shrine Empire Gallery will be presenting works by Sangeeta Maity, who has spent a lot of time researching and working with indigenous communities of Eastern India, while Blueprint12 will have the unique book art pieces by the young Mansha Chhatwal. These are only a few among a long list of shows.

Has the Indian art market been impacted, positively or negatively, by the pandemic?

The Indian art market has undergone massive transformation since the downturn in 2009, with the gradual laying of a foundation for longer-term development and sustainable growth. It’s not a boom-and-bust model, but one of gradual and actual growth, so we have been very happy to see the art market rebound with full force this year, with great collaborative and community spirit.

Initially, while we missed exhibitions, there was a growth in non-commercial art market initiatives, creating new platforms for discussing, contextualising and promoting contemporary art. Artists were at the forefront of the fast-changing world — many opened up about their routines and processes to interested audiences. From institutions, private foundations and artist-mentors announcing grants to financially support artists, to gallery viewing rooms, auctions, talks and fundraising efforts led by the art community, the expansion of the arts online has changed the game.

Overall, I think the past year has taught us the transformative potential of art. There is increased access and visibility for Indian art and artists, especially among younger millennial audiences who are now engaging with art in many ways and giving shape to future possibilities. Anecdotally, we have heard many making sales across price points to young collectors, who will be instrumental in shaping the art market of the future. I’d maintain that India’s art scene is vibrant, emerging and dynamic, with immense opportunity for growth.

Things seem to be improving in terms of Covid. Hopefully, we will not have a third wave. In the event there is one, could the plans for the fair change?

If there’s anything the past year taught us, it is that change is a constant. For now, the team and I are working full steam ahead towards the 2022 fair, with all decisions taken to ensure the safety of our exhibitors, artists and art-loving visitors.

Each year, an “art car” travels from the BMW Museum in Munich to be exhibited at India Art Fair. Could you tell us about this relationship with BMW and how it came about? What would be on offer from the BMW stable this time round?

We are very proud to enter into our 6th year of partnering with BMW India, and in fact in a completely new model this time around. We are not just partnering to present the fair, but for year-round initiatives including a brand new “The Future is Born of Art” commission for an Indian artist to design a car wrap for a new BMW Indian launch.

We have also been releasing BMW Artist Films profiling some of India’s most exciting and important artists leading change in the way we look at and think about art, specially highlighting the role of art and artists in creating a sustainable future. The focus on sustainability has been a focus throughout our year-round programming with BMW, including the online BMW Art Talk with Dia Mehhta Bhupal, which was the first-ever by an Indian artist.