NEW DELHI.- India Art Fair, the leading platform to discover and celebrate modern and contemporary art from South Asia, announces the full list of participating galleries and programme highlights for its forthcoming 13th edition. Taking place from 3 – 6 February 2022 in partnership with BMW India, the fair will present 75 exhibitors across 14 cities, including an unprecedented 13 non-profit foundations and institutions. Through an open call led in collaboration with The Gujral Foundation and Artdemic, Anshuka Mahapatra has been selected to design the tent façade of the 2022 fair.
Helmed by Jaya Asokan for the first time since her appointment as Fair Director in April 2021, this edition of the fair is a testament to the resilience of the Indian and South Asian art market and the art community at large. The fair spotlights the next generation of artists alongside modern masters through initiatives including Auditorium talks, performances, film screenings, outdoor art projects, artist-led workshops, and an online symposium in the run up to the fair. Continuing the fair’s enduring relationship with the region’s pioneering institutions, the forthcoming edition will see participation from Kochi Biennale Foundation, Chennai Photo Biennale and Serendipity Arts Foundation, among others.
Extending its role beyond that of an annual event, India Art Fair is making greater inroads into the local and international art scene by expanding its digital presence through website editorial and films, a range of online talks, workshops and exhibition walkthroughs, as well as the IAF Parallel programme including events and exhibitions of Indian and South Asian art taking place in cities across India and the world.
GALLERY HIGHLIGHTS
India Art Fair 2022 is set to include some of the region’s most important contemporary art galleries presenting established names and promising young talent including: Vadehra Art Gallery, Nature Morte, Gallery Espace, Blueprint12 (all New Delhi), Experimenter, Emami Art and Akar Prakar (all Kolkata), Tarq, Tao Art Gallery, Jhaveri Contemporary, Chatterjee & Lal (all Mumbai), Gallery Veda, Art Houz, Apparao Galleries (all Chennai) and GALLERYSKE (Bengaluru / New Delhi). Presentations by legacy galleries Dhoomimal Art Gallery, DAG (both New Delhi) and Archer Art Gallery (Ahmedabad) will give prominence to modernists who have been instrumental in shaping Indian art history. The fair will also see 4 international galleries return: Aicon Art (New York, USA), Aicon Contemporary (New York, USA), Grosvenor Gallery (London, UK) and neugerriemschneider (Berlin, Germany).
Highlighting the growing Indian arts scene, 7 Indian galleries will debut at the 2022 fair: APRE Art House (Mumbai), Art Incept (Gurugram / New Delhi), Frangipani Art Gallery (Ahmedabad), Gallery Art Exposure (Kolkata), Modern Art Gallery (New Delhi), Ojas Art (New Delhi), Vida Heydari Contemporary (Pune).
OTHER FAIR SECTIONS
Alongside the main section of the fair, FOCUS will showcase solo presentations curated by participating galleries. The forthcoming edition’s line-up includes: Sudip Roy by Aakriti Art Gallery (Kolkata), Chetnaa by Anupa Mehta Arts (Mumbai), Stephen Cox by Apparao Galleries (Chennai, New Delhi), Thota Vaikuntam by Emami Art (Kolkata), P.R. Daroz by Gallerie Nvya (New Delhi), Ankon Mitra by Gallery Art Positive (New Delhi).
PLATFORM, a section that foregrounds traditional Indian artforms, will be reimagined by curator Amit Kumar Jain. The 2022 section takes the title Patina and Pigment and will showcase Madhubani and Gond painting masterpieces, rare bhuta bronze masks from coastal Kerala and Karnataka, textiles and wall carpets from Rajasthan and much more.
The celebrated INSTITUTIONS section will return with 9 leading cultural festivals, collectives and foundations from the region, including Chennai Photo Biennale (Chennai), Kochi Biennale Foundation (Kochi), Kolkata Centre for Creativity (Kolkata), Space 118 (Mumbai), HH Art Spaces (Goa), Museo Camera (Gurugram), Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA), Liszt Institute Hungarian Cultural Centre, Khoj International Artists’ Association and Serendipity Arts Foundation (all New Delhi).
OUTDOOR ART PROJECTS will include large-scale installations presented by institutions extending across the fairgrounds, such as an open-air library and showcase of the Food Lab Grant winners by Serendipity Arts Foundation; women and trans-women collective Aravani Art Project who will create a colossal mural to decorate the walkway into the fair supported by Saffronart Foundation; Terrain.Art will present an immersive space of NFTs and digital artworks by Indian artists, and Space 118 Artist Grant winner Tapan Moharana’s installation of light and shadow play.
PUBLIC PROGRAMMING
Elevating the fair’s dynamic onsite experience, this year’s ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE programme features fresh young talent whose voices resonate with the wider public. From Haroun Hayward, Gurjeet Singh, Indu Antony to Arpita Akhanda, artists in this section will lead specialist workshops, presentations and performances that address some of the most pertinent issues in the art world through their works.
Marking 6 years of partnership, India Art Fair and BMW India continue to foster a spirit of collaboration and provide a breeding ground for creativity, including through a special new commission entitled THE FUTURE IS BORN OF ART which will be awarded to an Indian artist to design a wrap for one of BMW’s all-connected and electric cars. Shortlisted artists for this first-of-its kind commission which promises to boost emerging Indian names to a global stage include Faiza Hasan, Farah Mulla, Latheesh Lakshman and Visakh Menon.
Running through India Art Fair month, the IAF PARALLEL programme provides a unique, multilayered experience for audiences to celebrate the vibrant art scene of the city.
