Celebrities add glamour to 6th edition of India Art Fair

Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor, and fashion designers Suzanne Khan and Manish Malhotra provided the glamour quotient at the sixth edition of the India Art Fair that opened to the public today.
The celebrities were part of high profile visitors who attended the inaugural by invitation event on January 30.
Collectors such as Sangita Jindal, Poonam Bhagat Shroff, Pinky Reddy, Arjun Sharma, Malvinder and Shivinder Singh and Shalini Passi were present at the preview of the event, according to the organisers.
Hosting 1,000 artists from across the world, the Fair is showcasing art practices including painting, sculptures, digital art, photography installations and performance art. A total of 30 international and 47 domestic galleries across 91 booths inside a custom-built tent spanning over 20,000 sq metres at the NSIC Grounds.

The global spread of exhibitors included new galleries from Barcelona, Cologne, Lisbon, Madrid, Istanbul, Israel and Paris. There was also many galleries who have been showcasing since the Fair, which is the biggest in India debuted in the year 2008.
"There has been a mushrooming in the number of artists and galleries in the country. We ourselves received over 200 applications for the fair," Neha Kirpal told PTI.

She said apart from major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolktata and Bangalore, there has been interest from smaller cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, chandigarh, Ludhiana, Pune etc.
Galleries also commented on a notable influx of new collectors from tier-two cities, as well as corporate collectors, institutional buyers and museum representatives from around the globe.

A number of international delegations including collector groups led by Philip Dodd Chairman, Made in China and Viscount Linley Chairman, Christie's UK are also making their presence felt. Christie's had a successful debut India auction in December 2013 when they sold a painting by modern master Vasudev Gaitonde for whooping Rs 23.7 crore and netted total sales of RS 102 crore.
Many galleries including Delhi's Vadehra Art Gallery Scream (London), Jhaveri Contemporary (Mumbai) and Art Chowk (Pakistan), reported strong sales.
"It has been a fantastic first day at India Art Fair. We are thrilled to have sold 60 to 70 per cent of our booth in the first three hours of the fair," Priyanka Raja, Director, Experimenter Gallery said.

Lekha Poddar, collector and founder, Devi Art Foundation in Gurgaon said, "India Art Fair has helped in cultivating the domestic art market and democratising the art space. It has certainly put India on the international contemporary art map.