The India Art Fair (IAF) concluded its 15th edition recently. As fairs go, the event has consistently held its spot as a major calendar date in India’s art itinerary.
We have written about how art fairs are one of the barometers to ascertain the pulse of the commercial art sector for any region. With India’s art scene picking up steam - new galleries in the fray, more biennale, pop-up shows, better representation at international venues (fairs and museum shows), higher auction prices….it felt like the opportune time to take stock of what we discovered at this art trade fair, and whether we can understand the pulse of the market and the possible trajectory for the art sector in the coming years.
To begin with, the IAF appears to have outgrown its venue, at NSIC Fair Grounds. This is just an observation, keeping in mind the need to have more facilities, and attract a growing, newer audience. However, we will keep the infrastructure question on the side right now and focus on the observed market dynamics.
Design and art!
It was heartening to see experimental design booths at the fair, as a nod to the overlap between high-design and art, making art more accessible for commercial purposes. While majority of the design booths were sectioned off to one side, The inclusion of design studios was even more interesting as there is an independent Design Week that follows the IAF at the same venue.
Based on what we saw we assume that the design studios were presenting their ‘art’ creations rather than only functional design.
Multi-media, and prevalence of alternate media
While modern and contemporary pieces on traditional canvases continued to hold sway at the fair, it was interesting to note that galleries were showing more works from younger, contemporary artists using diverse materials, such as textiles, weaves, metals etc.
This expansion of materials and types of artworks bodes well for the growth of the sector since its shows that the market is (slowly) maturing and willing to accept newer forms of artworks.
A trend we spotted was the use of embroidery as medium, one to recreate paintings by recoginsed artists – MASH gallery had collaborated with Milayaya Embroideries to bring to life the works of S H Raza, Ram Kumar, KK Hebbar, Gulam Sheikh, Nilima Sheikh and Ranbir Kaleka, we loved some of the pieces and hope to see this take root in the art space. The other was by younger artist who used embroidery as a medium, Chanakya which incidentally was the first to create embroidered pieces of Madhvi Parekh's paintings for the famous Dior exhibition, presented works by young artists.
Diversity of galleries
We also noted newer / younger galleries, from the major markets of Mumbai and New Delhi, as well as some of the regional cities at the fair. While majority of the galleries continued to show artists we have become quite familiar with over the last few years, it was good, nonetheless, to note that new galleries were being welcomed as a part of the expansion of the market.
We would, however, like to point out that in spite of this, there were few new works, or artists at the fair. This appears to be the nature of a commercial art space, where sellers would like to optimise their heavy investments by selling tried and tested works.
Limited international fare
We were excited to see some major internationals artists, such as Ai Wei Wei, Olafur Eliasson however, overall the international fare was limited. This is in line with the predominantly regional / local nature of IAF, which caters to a largely regional market, where tastes are heavily defined by known, traditional artworks.
It would be interesting to see how the changes in the coming years, both with respect to introduction of younger artists, with newer works, as well as more international works.
Limited large-scale art (including sculptures)
This last point is more a comment on our own expectations of art, rather than the commercial, nature of IAF. For some reason we were looking a for large sculptural works, which would stand in public spaces. We scoured the booths looking for pieces, only to realise that it was a search in vain. Galleries usually display smaller, fewer sculptural pieces since majority of the market is unlikely to shop for such as art fairs. This was expected.
However, as art enthusiasts, looking to see a range of art and get a sense of trends, we were hard pressed to see cutting edge works, small or large at the fair. While the fair made the effort to put together some public art works, we felt that there was a lack of scale in what was showcased.
With the Indian calendar becoming increasingly busy with biennale, cultural fairs, art shows, new non-profit spaces (such as Hampi Labs by JSW Foundation), the IAF remains one of the most sought after. Many galleries, auction houses, and cultural venues host parallel shows alongside the IAF, making this one of the busiest and more dynamic art events of the year.
New initiatives and broader engagement, be it design studios or new galleries, are all good signs that the art sector in India is ready to break new grounds. As this sector grows, we would be interested to see how this engagement reaches a wider audience and creates deeper market opportunities.
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