India Art Fair, a leading platform for showcasing modern and contemporary art from India and South Asia, is returning at a time when the Indian art market is on a new high, achieving record-breaking prices at auctions, and artists from the region becoming a part of global conversations as never before. Ahead of the 15th edition, which promises to be the biggest yet with over 100 exhibitors from all over the world, FE spoke with fair director Jaya Asokan, who has been leading the show for the past three years. Edited excerpts from the interview:
Has the Indian art market picked up since the last fair?
India’s art market is thriving, and continues to grow, with India Art Fair at the helm. With India achieving and maintaining its place as the world’s fifth largest economy, the passion for collecting and the art market have also boomed in the country. The growth has been consistent year-on-year and the market has grown by more than 250% in the past decade.
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The Indian art market has maintained its position of strength in FY23, clocking in a mammoth turnover of $144.3 million through the sale of 3,833 works. According to the ‘State of the Indian Art Market Report FY23’ by Grant Thornton Bharat and Indian Art Investor, there is a 9% rise in turnover and a 6% rise in the number of works sold from the previous year, making FY23 the most successful year for Indian art at auction.
India Art Fair contributes directly to this growth by providing one of the only venues for collectors from around the country and the world to discover the wide range of excellent art and artists from the region. Beyond the fair, we support collectors’ weekends in cities, including in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, and nurture collector bases beyond these art centres too.
2023 was the most successful year for Indian art at auctions, with record prices achieved for Indian artists like Amrita Sher-Gil, SH Raza, Raja Ravi Varma and VS Gaitonde. Sher-Gil’s The Story Teller is now the most expensive oil on canvas masterpiece to fetch `61.8 crore at Saffronart’s ‘Evening Sale: Modern Art’ in New Delhi. Contemporary art sales are also on the rise, with a parallel rise in global institutional interest in South Asian art. This, alongside the overall growth in economy and market, is a healthy sign that our upward trajectory will continue in the coming years.
Will the new design segment be a game-changer this year?
We are thrilled to show how South Asia has become a global design destination, and our visitors and collector base can experience the full force of our design talent this time. This year, we will inaugurate our first-ever design section with seven new design studios built on the principle that boundaries between art and design, or any creative field for that matter, have never truly existed and creatives of all kinds have always been in conversation with each other.
The studios will show limited-edition, handmade and unique pieces that are conceptual and deeply process driven—and explore dimensions of design objects beyond the purely functional. Vikram Goyal, a returning exhibitor, will show brass works that explore the various historical and aesthetic influences from the Silk Road; Rooshad Shroff will bring furniture made in collaboration with artist T Venkanna; Karishma Swali & Chanakya School will bring textiles made by master artisans; and Studio Renn will combine fine jewels with concrete to make expressive jewellery, among other standout presentations.
How strong is the co-relation between art and sustainability?
We continue to raise our standards for sustainability every year. From improving the show’s ecological footprint and sharing art in the most sustainable manner possible, we are proactively defining long-term strategies for a sustainable fair—from recycling and reusing the fair exhibition tents, floors and walls to having glass bottles to using only digital tickets, transitioning to printing fair signage on fabric and using F&B biodegradable dishes. Our sustainability efforts have been awarded a spot in the top 3 in India for our ‘Excellence in Sustainability’ by Exhibition Showcase in 2023.
Environment and sustainability will be key themes at the fair. The theme for the third edition of ‘The Future is Born of Art’ Commission, one of the largest artist commissions in the country that is led by India Art Fair and BMW India, is ‘Forwardism’, focused on progress with conscience. The winner, Sashikanth Thavudoz, will create an immersive installation that will highlight the fragility of our ecological balance and our collective responsibility to ensure a future for the planet and its people. The theme for our Digital Residency Hub this year is ‘Forces of Nature’ and Digital Artists in Residence, Dhruv Jani, MYLES x Ameya and Sadhna Prasad will all create interactive digital works that will advocate for us to build stronger relationships with our natural surroundings.
The fair facade is designed by artist duo Thukral & Tagra for the 2024 edition, and which will be repurposed into limited edition bags by the Dalit-run Chamar Studio after the fair—ensuring a zero-waste life of the large facade made possible by a rich collaboration between the artists and the design studio.
What are the takeaways for the millennials, who actively look at digital art as a product and investment?
As a fair, our eyes are always focused on the future and on the next generation of collectors. Especially among this audience, made up of young millennials, there is a sustained interest in finding new ideas in art, beyond traditional mediums, which of course, include digital and new media art. For this, the Studio section has artists experimenting with digital techniques of AI, AR and VR.
Our third year of the Young Collectors’ Programme, a programme that runs alongside the fair, caters to sustainable growth for the booming Indian art market. This year’s programme encourages young collectors to engage with young artists from beyond the urban capitals of India to foster a sense of pan-Indian community among the next-generation of patrons.
A special showcase at STIR that promotes, propagates creativity and innovation in design, architecture, in collaboration with Immerse, a young artists’ support programme, brings works by a set of young artists, and an activation of The Dhan Mill in Chhattarpur, collaborating with fashion houses like NorBlack NorWhite and Almost Gods to encourage young collectors to engage in the intersections between creative fields.
Would you recommend five must-see artists participating in the IAF?
It is difficult to pick five. I would encourage all to come with an open mind and pick their favourites depending on the art that speaks most powerfully to them. However, keep an eye out for the young new talents—our Artists in Residence, the multi-talented Tham-shangpha Maku, mural and graffiti artist Khatra and feminist artist Mayuri Chari; and our digital artists in residence showing work in the Digital Residency Hub, Sadhna Prasad, Dhruv Jani and MYLES x Ameya.
India Art Fair will be held at the NSIC Exhibition Grounds in New Delhi from February 1 to 4
