Creative colours in the air

It is showtime, folks! The India Art Fair (IAF) is back in the Capital, bringing with it all the action, hustle, bustle and excitement. Giridhar Khasnis offers an overview...

Now in its seventh edition, the four-day extravaganza is expected to showcase a breadth of modern and contemporary art practices which would be a treat to the connoisseur as well as the layperson.

On display at the NSIC Exhibition Grounds would be a wide range of paintings, sculptures, installations, new media, and performance art. Eighty-five exhibiting galleries in a total of 90 booths would feature the work of more than 400 artists from India and abroad. 

The organisers are confident that India Art Fair remains unchallenged as the most important stage for facilitating dialogue and art trade in the region. They also assure that, as compared to the previous editions, special care has been taken to plan the IAF 2015 with more open layout, and better curated spaces that are easier to navigate, enhancing the art experience for all Indian and foreign visitors alike.

Girish Shahane, well-known writer on visual art, film and cultural politics, is the artistic director of this edition of the Art Fair. He has also programmed the Speakers’ Forum which facilitates experts to deliberate on a range of topics related to the visual arts, including art criticism, curating, collecting, patronage, and cultural policy. The Speakers’ Forum is integrated with a suite of special art projects with chosen artists creating work for the fair’s non-commercial section. 

The spotlight of IAF 2015 is, however, clearly on the galleries which are expected to bring in the works of their best and most trusted artists. Big names from the contemporary art world like Anish Kapoor, Daniel Buren, El Anatsui, Francesco Clemente and William Kentridge figure in the list of artists.

So are the younger lots including Subodh Gupta, Bharti Kher, Chitra Ganesh and many others. But, who can take away the luster of our ‘evergreen’ masters — although, sadly, many of them are deceased. Some of them feature not in one or two, but multiple booths.

The barefoot badshah, (late) M F Husain, still dominates the proceedings — his paintings are being featured in 10 booths! There are also others like F N Souza, Tyeb Mehta, Jamini Roy, and Somenath Hore whose colourful works will never cease to fade for some collectors and visitors.

Be that as it may, the art fair means many things to many people. The organisers seek to enhance their reputation by trying to attract the best galleries in business. The galleries would like to decorate their booths with their best artists’ works.

The buyer/collector wants to be at the right time and the right place so that he strikes the best bargain for the most desirable piece of art; the curious curator wants to unearth new and promising talent; and the young artist seeks the attention of curators, gallerists, collectors and critics. Last but not the least, the general public and the lay viewer want to soak up the atmosphere and take it all in their eyes.

 “There is something for everyone,” says Neha Kirpal, Founder and Fair Director of IAF. “India Art Fair acts as a catalyst for progress, driving deeper understanding of the country’s artistic history as well as the latest contemporary work from across India, stimulating dialogue, debate, understanding and interaction not only with art specialists, but with the wider public and collectors of tomorrow.” 

All in all, as the air of expectancy grows by the hour, IAF 2015 seems well set to become a happening place as well as an attractive destination for the people of Delhi and outside for the next four days.