Delhi’s most significant annual art event gets into its second decade

After the heady first decade of the current century, the Indian art market has tended to struggle. While there have been high points, especially in new valuation records in international art auctions, the overall prices, or indeed energy, have been rather insipid. A new report by London-based analyst ArtTactic says that the auction prices of Indian modern art rose by just 0.5% in 2016 while sales fell by 25%. And then came the November 8 declaration, which has impacted disposable sales more than anything else. The art mart had reason to be nervous.

In this backdrop, the latest edition of the just concluded India Art Fair (IAF) was expected to inject some energy and confidence in the Indian art mart. Especially as it last received a much-needed boost in the form of stake sale to the world’s leading art fair organiser, Switzerland’s MCH Group, second ownership change. Founder Neha Kirpal now has 10%, while MCH owns 60.3%, with Angus Montgomery holding the rest.

Not only does the MCH Group own Art Basel, it also operates the art fairs in Miami and Hong Kong. With the India Art Fair, it is embarking on a new regional art fair journey, it had said at the time of the acquisition late last summer, though clarifying that there would be little visible change in the 2017 edition.

That turned out to be true. The look and feel, and the venue of the fair remained the same. Of the 72 participating galleries, 18 were international, some coming for the first time, such as Lukas Feichtner Galerie (Vienna). Regulars such as Grey Noise (UAE), Kalfayan Galleries (Athens) or Grosvenor Gallery (UK) were there as well.

Indeed, the fair had a stated aim of concentrating more on South Asia. India Art Fair is focused on bringing the best of the South Asian art to national and international audiences, said Kirpal. “Fast growing cities such as Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad currently account for 29% of India’s Modern and Contemporary galleries. These could provide new hubs for the South Asian art market,” according to the ArtTactic report.

South Asian art got a new platform, called Platform(!), comprising Blueprint 12 (India), Britto Arts Trust (Bangladesh), Nepal Art Council (Nepal) and Theertha International Artists Collective (Sri Lanka). And they did have interesting art on show, from creative interpretations to political commentary.

IAF also unveiled a new curated space, Vernacular in Flux, curated by Dr Annapurna Garimella, which presented a rich showcase of vernacular art with a focus on Gond, Madhubani and Mysore painting. While works by known names such as Bhajju Shyam and Baua Devi were there, what caught the attention was Durga bai Vyam’s “Accordion books”, which showcased folk art in new narrative styles.

One of the sessions too saw South Asian art come into focus, with Pooja Sood, director, Khoj International Artists Association, Delhi, Alessio Antonelli, director, Gasworks, London and Boon-Hui Tan, director, Asia Society Museum, Singapore, discussing “Perspectives from Networks of South Asian Art”.

The conversation space, especially the structured sessions, continued to be a high point. Among the star speakers were Richard Armstrong (director, Solomon R Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, New York) and Sheena Wagstaff (Leonard A Lauder Chairman of Modern and Contemporary Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), who discussed the future of museums in an entertaining hour. 

For those who did find their way to the films curated by Godrej India Culture Lab with Avijit Mukul Kishore and Rohan Shivkumar, were rewarded by some thought-provoking celluloid, though comparatively few managed to make it.

As for sponsors, IAF retained BMW as its presenting sponsor along with JSW. “With a shared purpose to promote cultural discourse in South Asia, and provide a platform for emerging artists, key art spaces and collectives, BMW India has partnered with the India Art Fair,” said Frank Schloeder, president (acting), BMW Group India. BMW places the main focus of its long-term commitment on modern and contemporary art, jazz and classical music as well as architecture and design. Its concrete manifestation — on display was the 13th BMW Art Car, designed by Sandro Chia. BMW’s art car project indeed has seen some stunning results, though as I heard someone say, a “painted” BMW is such a waste! Hidden away, and only for VIP eyes was the all-new BMW 5 Series.

For Sangita Jindal, chairman of the JSW Foundation, which drives social development projects within the JSW Group, involvement in IAF is part of the effort to get more corporate support to art. “We are also very excited about the use of JSW cement and REBAR Steel at the fair,” said Jindal. JSW had its own display unit, an artwork created out of the company’s cement and steel!

IAF did put out a statement at the end of the fair, claiming a turnout of over 90,000 visitors over the duration of the fair. While the number of eateries seems to be growing, the footfall across the three-day fair seemed to be less than the preceding year. The number of galleries at the fair has not really risen, and even fell in some years. The carpet areas for galleries have risen too. There is little discernible difference in the layout. The only space that stood out was the ever impressive Delhi Art Gallery (DAG), which had usual collection of Modern masters in innovative spaces. Entry price to the fair meanwhile shot up to Rs 499 this edition, further shutting out the “un-rich” art lover. Art is definitely for the rich, seems to be the not-so-covert message from the fair, where the places to be seen were the evening soirees, often off site, where the coverage was more about glitter and the clink of champagne flutes than any art forms.

As some have noted, a certain staidness is creeping into the fair. Unlike its cultural cousin of identical age, Jaipur Literature Festival, which grandly marked its tenth anniversary, IAF did not even highlight its landmark. The largely subservient media did not think to question this. Or other aspects, such the gradual decline of the global nature of the festival — it’s increasingly having to depend on local art, and which the organisers have smartly tried to re-label as the new focus. Of course, credit lines, already depressed, took a fair beating from the ‘deMon’ move.

Given that MCH had stated its intention for a more active role from next year, there is something to look forward to at Delhi’s most significant annual art event as it gets into its second decade.