India Art Fair returns for 17th edition with record 135 exhibitors

New Delhi, Feb 5 (PTI) The 17th edition of India Art Fair began in the national capital on Thursday with a record 135 exhibitors, including 94 galleries from around the world and 24 major art institutions, an expanded design section and extensive programming throughout the week.

Running from February 5-8 at the NSIC Exhibition Grounds in Okhla, India Art Fair is hosting some of South Asia’s most important contemporary galleries alongside established international names that are showcasing rare masterpieces and cutting-edge contemporary works from India and beyond.

“This is our most expansive edition yet. We have 135 exhibitors, the largest we have had since we started 17 years ago. We are very proud to showcase the best of South Asian art, contemporary

as well as modern. We have a design section as well for the past three years. So yes, in entirety this is the largest presentation we have put forward,” Jaya Asokan, fair director, told PTI.

Some of the Indian galleries presenting works by modernist masters at the art fair include Archer Art Gallery, Art Exposure, Kumar Gallery, Akara, and Chawla Art Gallery, while noted contemporary artists are represented by galleries including Jhaveri Contemporary, Art Alive, PHOTOINK, Chemould Prescott Road, and Vadehra Art Gallery.

Returning for a third year, the Design section has brought together studios Ashiesh Shah, Aspura, Chanakya School of Craft, DeMuro Das, Gunjan Gupta, ROOSHADSHROFF, Studio Renn, Vikram Goyal with Galerie Maria Wettengren, Kunal Maniar and Associates, Kohelika Kohli Karkhana, Morii Design, and SHED.

Leading international artists like Olaffur Eliasson unveils new works with neugerriemschneider; Anish Kapoor returns to the fair with Galleria Continua; Judy Chicago, Michelangelo Pistolleto and present works with DMINTI.

The fair’s Talks programme this year brings together leading artists, designers, gallerists, museum directors, patrons and market specialists including Dr. Tristram Hunt, Dayanita Singh, Prof. Alberto Cavalli, Dr. Alexandra Munroe, Aindrea Emelife, Dr. Amin Jaffer, and Ibrahim Mahama.

The Focus section is presenting a series of solo artist showcases, including 100 works from the photographic series Red & Blue Period by Marina Abramović, sculptural and wall-based works by Bharti Kher, tapestry and embroidery works by Khadim Ali, sculptural works by Ravinder Reddy and Girjesh Kumar Singh, an immersive presentation by Jayasri Burman, and canvas works by Naina Dayal.

Major outdoor projects and collaborations at the art fair include a new site-specific work by artist Kulpreet Singh, commissioned and presented by Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, that is deeply rooted in the ecological aftermath of the Green Revolution.

World acclaimed artist Judy Chicago’s project “What If Women Ruled the World? Participatory Quilt”, presented by DMINTI, invites audiences to engage with urgent questions while fostering discussion of a different tomorrow.

Serendipity Arts has showcased “The Charpai Project”, conceptualised by Ayush Kasliwal, in a new format with a digital intervention by AI artist Goji.

“The Pentad Pavilion” by Upton-Hansen Architects reimagines parliament as an open, participatory, civic landscape, bringing visitors to participate as actors and audience.

The Institutions section has invited 16 leading museums, foundations, and cultural organisations from India and across the world, featuring special projects that expand the dialogue between art, design, education, and philanthropy.

Major institutions exhibiting at the art fair include the Museum of Art & Photography, Sabyasachi Art Foundation, The Gujral Foundation, the Korean Cultural Centre, and Birla Academy of Art & Culture.

The Platform section will spotlight South Asia’s living artistic traditions and craft-based practices, bringing together artists and collectives reinterpreting inherited practices with contemporary language, including Gondwana Art Project, which evokes the ecological and cosmic worlds of the Gond, Baiga, and Bhil communities through paintings, and Delhi Crafts Council’s (DCC) reimagining of Bastar metalwork in collaboration with traditional artisans.

The art fair will come to an end on February 8. PTI MAH MAH MAH