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Now on its 11th edition, the India Art Festival is led by Director Jagdip Jagpal. Over time, the fair has expanded its spread of contemporary art offerings. It has also broadened its gamut of emotions inspired from momentous, jaw-dropping awe to angst and even acute agony – all flaunted in rebellious hues. The India Art Festival features up to 75 leading galleries displaying the work of renowned as well as new artists.
Founded in 2008, the art fair is a fresh outlet for collaborations between art connoisseurs, architects, interior designers, artists, art buyers, art dealers and galleries – complemented with valuable conversations. The IAF in association with major and mid-level art galleries provides a great opportunity for discovery to independent and emerging artists, as well as the instant attention garnered by exhibiting alongside established artists.
The India Art Festival 2019 witnesses participation from leadings artists and galleries from South America, USA, Europe and Asia. The festival has galloped down the road to fame with interactive programs, regional films, performing arts and theatre, art installations along with culture and art exhibits including paintings. With a sprinkling of the West, India Art Festival is a melting pot of South East Asia’s diverse art landscape.
Not only has the India Art Festival emerged as a tourist attraction in India, ithas made a mark on the international level too. It witnesses participation not only from regional artists but also from museum directors, gallery owners, art collectors, and curators worldwide. This makes it one of the leading art festivals focusing on modern and contemporary art forms in South Asia. Till date more than three lakh art enthusiasts have attended the event in Delhi.
Since its first edition, the IAF has successfully initiated a democratization process in the Indian art market. This has happened at two levels – first, by the interaction and mingling of highly articulate metro-bred urban artists with less articulate rural ones. And second, by the creation of a simple yet invigorating ambience for the selling, buying and viewing of art outside the confines of art spaces which are otherwise unapproachable for the common man.
IAF features a 2-day educational seminar known as ‘Conversations.’ It comprises of a series of panel discussions which offer valuable insights and expert perspectives on subjects ranging from infrastructure, art galleries, exhibitions, the economy, and of course, contemporary art. The invited speakers include publishers, editors, cultural organizers, institution builders, historians, critics, museum directors, gallerists, and artists. The festival is also the only contemporary art fair that takes place in India, hosting two annual editions at New Delhi and Mumbai. Today, it positions itself as a successfully tested art fair module with a focus on both independent artists and galleries.
There is the IAF Artists’ Pavilion, a talent hunt aimed towards discovering the visual arts’ hidden gems in rural as well as urban India. Indian art buyers get a host of choices due to this initiative. IAF has changed the way audiences sell, buy or simply view art. The marginalized and underrepresented yet radical visual voices from every part of India find recognition in the ‘Indian Contemporary Art Journal’, the quarterly in-house art publication, as well as the India Art Festival.
Every year over fifty art galleries and more than four hundred exhibiting artists from across the Indian subcontinent and Asia gather together to attend the event. It showcases exciting installations, lithographs, ceramics, photography, sculptures, drawings, paintings, prints, and original artworks. All of these are available under a single roof in New Delhi.
The India Art Festival will take place at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex in Laxmi Bai Nagar, New Delhi India. The event will be held between November 14 to 17, 2019. The timings of the show are 11 AM to 7:30 PM. Entry is free for industry professionals. Visitor entry is also free but online registration is required. The cost of exhibition booths starts from INR 120000. Interested participants can visit the India Art Festival website and download the form that needs to be filled.
Sameer Kulavoor: As a reflection of current society, Kulavoor’s painting depicts individuals looking at their cell phones. The painting takes inspiration from Krishen Khanna’s painting of people waking up, reading the newspapers and learning about Gandhi’s death. Mehta says that today when we wake up, it’s to our cell phones. The young artist interestingly depicts and comments on modern society.
Ghulam Mohammad: Cut-outs of Urdu texts have been used by this young Pakistani artist to create landscapes in a collage-esque style. He was the winner of the coveted Jameel prize in 2016, awarded by London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. This acknowledgment of Ghulam’s work catapulted him to international prominence.
Anwar Jalal Shemza: Shemza is among the best known Pakistani modernists. Anwar is viewed as someone who could potentially count himself among the likes of Husain or Bhupen Kakkar. Shemza is also a member of the Lahore Art Circle and his work is an amalgamation of traditional Islamic art forms with the Western principles of modernism. He is greatly focused on perspective and geometry, which is the key highlight of his work.
Shalina S Vichitra: Shalina’s work stands out on the basis of its visual appeal and is based on Kashmir’s houses. The strong ceramic tradition of India can fit into any contemporary or modern aesthetic. Vichitra’s work focuses on art inspired by maps. This captivates the viewers and forces them to navigate through her art. A visual vocabulary of architecture and geography has been fostered into her due to Vichitra’s travels to Himalayan habitats. She looks at shelters both as an emotional as well as a physical construct.
Khadim Ali: Ali is a Pakistan based Afghan refugee. His work has traveled the world making stops at renowned places like the Venice Biennale and the Guggenheim. What strikingly comes through in his work is traditional miniature painting, which Ali learned in Lahore. He discusses contemporary society Needless to say, he’s an artist to look out for.
Idris Khan: Khan is a British artist with a focus on contemporary art. His work is featured in the collections of some renowned places including Israel’s Tel Aviv Museum of Art and New York’s Guggenheim Museum. His medium of choice is usually text, which makes his work unique and appealing. He digitally builds up layers of scans collected from secondary source material including the Quran and other books.
Lubna Chowdhary: Of Indian descent, Chowdhary is based in London and is an exceptional British artist. Ceramics are her medium of choice. She recently showcased her work in the form of an installation at the Kochi Biennale.
Rana Begum: With a Bangladeshi origin, Rana Begum is a British artist whose work draws inspiration from urban architecture and Islamic art. She focuses on repetitive geometric patterns. A close look at her work reveals the use of bicycle reflectors. She uses an interesting medium to create art pieces that have a minimalistic appeal that hints at deeper connections and ideas.
Prabhakar Barwe: In 1976, Barwe was awarded the Lalit Kala Academy award, a prestigious acknowledgment for his interesting work. He is a pioneer of Modern Indian Painting and he does better and better at every auction. Barwe’s work is highly sought after by art collectors and connoisseurs alike. His work has been acquired by mega collectors like the KNMA. The bold colors in Barwe’s work draw the viewer towards his art and its depth. His work seems to have its own enigmatic and mysterious language which is abstract yet mystical.
At STIR Gallery in Chattarpur, Tagra and Thukral presented their project, Lullaments. It explored the idea of ‘play’ from a psychological and strategic perspective. Through ping pong terminology, they tried illustrating Hindu mythology and the meditative aspects of play.
The Devi Art Foundation at Okhla features an exhibition exploring the ephemeral ‘non-things’ including movement, light, vibration, sound and thought. The exhibition is curated by Sumakshi Sinha and contains the works of Mithu Sen, Idris Khan, Manish Nai, Vivan Sundaram, Sheela Gowda, Zarina Hashmi, Alwar Balasubramaniam.
At Saket’s Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Kolkata born Arpita Singh presented the retrospective exhibition with a rare opportunity to witness art practiced over 6 decades by one of the most significant female artists in India. Roobina Karode has curated this collection.
The Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum in Ahmedabad showcased a promising story of indigo. This is a natural dye deeply rooted in the history of India. A centuries-old tie is revealed by its name, which is derived from the Greek work ‘indikon.’ This means ‘from India.’
If you’re interested in art, India Art Festival’s 11th edition has enough for collectors and connoisseurs alike. Dive deep into interesting art at New Delhi!
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April 15, 2024 
