It’s the time of the year when art thaws the cold, grey landscape of Delhi with colour, conversation and commerce. Observing the India Art Fair evolve over 15 years with changing titles, investors, directors, participants and even its fair share of controversy, the celebration seems to have come a long way, and yet the sight is a familiar one.
The biggies in the art world belong here; the Gen Z talent is outspoken; the trench coats and boots re-emerge with latest fashions thrown in. Even as each year presents new creativity and experimental showcases, one can’t avoid a certain red-carpeted déjà vu. It’s home to art of a certain pedigree after all, and as the country’s largest commercial art fair, it is perhaps only understandable that the popular and the predictable be given its due. The buzzwords — sustainability, technology, AI, accessibility, inclusivity and diversity — are all in place, but it’s natural to wonder what’s really distinctive and compelling this time.
Powerful debuts
It is the debutants, for one, that pique interest, especially in the new Design section that expands the discourse. The global Carpenters Workshop Gallery sets foot in the country with celebrated works such as Karl Lagerfeld’s water fountain and Maarten Baas’ single-edition coloured clocks.
Watch | India Art Fair 2024 walkthrough with Viraj Khanna
British co-founder Loïc Le Gaillard is excited: “We consistently assess how the perspectives and artistic expressions of our core artists align with a specific location or capture a unique moment in time. We’re always driven by the work itself, as well as the narratives that our artists build into their creative process and how that will resonate with the audiences that will encounter it.”
Vincent Dubourg’s Commode Inner Vortex Alu (2013, photography by Adrien Millot)
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Adrien Millot (courtesy of Carpenters Workshop Gallery)
Julien Lombrail and Loïc Le Gaillard, founders of Carpenters Workshop Gallery
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Tom Jamieson (courtesy of Ladbroke Hall and Carpenters Workshop Gallery)
In the same section, another first, and an important reminder in these times, is an ode to 50 years of the Jawaharlal Nehru University through its architectural design by C.P. Kukreja. “The exhibition brings into discussion the role of the architect in nation building. Where most major universities of the world define their presence through the regimental and the classical forms of imposition, JNU’s Masterplan expresses an absence of the built. Like water, the built finds its way into the landscape,” shares Vishal K Dar, the exhibit designer, in his curatorial note.
Masterplan, a model of JNU by CP Kukreja Architects and Vishal Dar
Meanwhile, underrepresented landscapes meet the mainland in distilled forms. A welcome window to India’s Northeast is the photography and film of Tripura-based collective, Egaro Photo Festival. Abhijit Deb’s Odyssey weaves folktales into an ethereal story. Millo Ankha from Arunachal Pradesh brings alive the deities of her hometown Ziro in performance, and Kunga Tashi from Sikkim crafts silent, tender photographs in nature. “Our hope from this debut is for people to recognise art from our region that often goes unnoticed,” says co-founder Diptanil Das. “Commercial art fairs can be a great platform for sharing the stories of the Northeast with people who might not have encountered it otherwise, fostering a greater understanding and appreciation of our artistic and cultural heritage.”
A photo from Abhijit Deb’s Odyssey
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Abhijit Deb
One hopes this plural playground widens, especially as leading art events across the world tone down the tedium of the mainstream and make room for important ideas. It was intense, for instance, to witness how the German Pavilion at the La Biennale in Venice (2022) commemorated anti-fascist resistance by tearing down the ground (Relocating a Structure, Maria Eichhorn), and to experience Art Week Tokyo x Art Basel’s talks on interwar radical art movements or wade through teamLab’s body-immersive floods to feel a closer impact of climatic catastrophe.
What about Ukraine, Syria and Palestine?
Meanwhile, the strokes are bright and bold in Delhi, and so are the speculated numbers, considering the robust business last year. For instance, one of the works (by a living artist) yielded approximately $900,000. But how does the fair strategy plan to tackle the apprehensions posed by the economic slowdown? “While there has been a global slowdown, India has been faring better, with many auction sales records in the past year,” says Jaya Asokan, fair director. “We have been seeing gradual growth ever since, which bodes well not only for this year but also for the long-term future.”
Amba Sayal Bennett’s Dioptrique (2022)
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Courtesy of Indigomadder
Given the expanse of international participation, one wishes the line-up also had some voices from countries such as Ukraine, Syria and Palestine in the spirit of empowerment. The need of the hour for art is not just to reflect but to rethink, reimagine and reshape minds, to subvert the powers that prevail, to respond to the important issues through collaborative participatory action.
Small changes
Senior artists who have been regulars observe what is, and what can be. “The fair attracts a diverse audience beyond the typical art circles, and is thus a valuable convergence point,” says Jitish Kallat, who is exhibiting Antumbra, themed on Nelson Mandela’s chronicles in prison. Mithu Sen, whose work, A Prayer Unanswered, draws on themes of violence and ceasefire, adds, “Life already has a corporate structure, so even the smallest change, like a new fair entrance from a different direction, or a crazy commission — not an object or sculpture — but simple poetry fliers in local languages distributed in unassuming places, can prove a powerful initiative. Such interventions with no propaganda but in the spirit of humanity and empathy have great potential in times when art practices face fear and compromise.”
Jitish Kallat’s Antumbra takes from his work Covering Letter
When one steps in, one looks to experience healing beauty, fantasy and fun, but also the poetry of pain, the stark truths and investigations in the realities and conflicts that plague the world today. One hopes that once this edition commences, it will offer myriad mirrors so that humanity may look itself in the eye and say, yes, art can stand for change and growth.
IAF takes place from February 1-4 at the NSIC Okhla Grounds in New Delhi.
The senior writer-editor’s practice straddles convergent cultures, global literature, multidisciplinary arts, and social issues.
Published – January 26, 2024 11:45 am IST
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