The 13th edition of India Art Fair (April 28 to May 1), one of the largest art fairs in South Asia, is special this year as it returns to terra firma after two years of the pandemic. But there are several reasons to cheer as IAF now turns the spotlight on younger artists hit by the pandemic, seeks new collectors, and digs deeper into smaller cities to find art. Edited excerpts from an interview with IAF director Jaya Asokan.
Q/The India Art Fair is set to return to the physical format after a gap of two years. How excited or nervous are you?
A/I think the whole team has worked really hard to make this a celebration of Indian and South Asian art. And this time, in particular, we actually started doing active programming for five months before the fair, which we never do. We have had studio visits, online symposiums for younger artists, and many other things to build momentum for the fair this year.
Q/The IAF is such an experience-driven event and we have started using this phrase, “post pandemic”. How do you expect the audience engagement or expectation to change, now that they have come back to the fair?
A/There is a big focus on the younger generation of artists in this edition of the fair. They have been hit quite hard by the pandemic, as you would imagine, because they were at a nascent stage in their career. So, it was very tough for them compared with the established artists who did very well and sold in the last two years. We can also assure the people coming to the fair that it is not all about, say, expensive art. We have different price points and different benchmarks. We also have a series of workshops for the visiting public if they want to engage with the arts in any way.
Q/How are you planning to make space for the advent of NFT and digital art pieces? They are making a lot of money internationally, but several art-watchers and artists themselves are not very impressed.
A/I think that NFTs have just expanded the discussion and the market for digital art and artists, which is continuing to grow. We are not going to sit here as a jury or judge its viability. Whether it is a bubble or not is not something that we necessarily want to speculate on. It is part of the conversation today. So, what we are doing is just giving them a platform to be part of the conversation, because they are now. But I agree that the prices have been quite something, including for Indian artists.
Q/Is this edition a sort of leaner and meaner version of previous IAFs? Are there fewer exhibitors or collectors taking part compared with previous editions?
A/From an exhibitor standpoint? No. In terms of international galleries, of course, there are fewer, because India just opened its borders and relaxed travel restrictions on March 30. And we plan six months in advance. But we look at it as a positive. It has really forced us to look inward. So, even from a collector's perspective, we have been travelling to south India, for example, because we feel that there are so many cities, tier II included, that have such an audience for art who do not come to the fair. So, we have been focusing our efforts on that.
