With demand up, artists are now busier than before Covid-19 pandemic

March is usually a month of transition for Indian art. Exhibitions and galleries go into high drive for one last push before summer’s hibernation, while artists gear up for shows and openings overseas. But March was when the world shut its doors this year, India went into lockdown, and the spectre of an earlier recession reared its ugly head. As offices closed, people lost jobs, mass migrations began, it seemed the future for artists was bleak. They couldn’t have known then that most of them would be laughing their way to the bank.

In Mumbai, Atul Dodiya was working on