India Art Fair Announces Full Programme
Highlights include performance art by Gurjeet Singh and Arpita Akhanda, a panel discussion by leaders of India's NFT community, and a BMW wrap by Faiza Hasan.
Arpita Akhanda in performance-at Kolkata Centre for Creativity (KCC). Courtesy KCC.
India Art Fair has announced the full list of galleries and programming for its 13th edition, which takes place in Delhi from 28 April to 1 May 2022.
Sixty-three galleries will take part, including seven Indian galleries who are participating for the first time—APRE Art House, Art Incept, Gallery Art Exposure, Modern Art Gallery, Ojas Art, Terrain.art, and Vida Heydari Contemporary.
They'll rub shoulders with fair stalwarts such as Experimenter, Jhaveri Contemporary, Vadehra Art Gallery, and Nature Morte, as well as 14 institutional participants, including the Kochi Biennale Foundation, Chennai Photo Biennale, and Serendipity Arts Foundation.
Additionally, the fair will feature a packed programme of talks by speakers including artists Atul Dodiya and Hetain Patel, and a panel on NFTs by artist Raghava KK, tech-art platform BeFantastic, and Indian NFT platform Terrain.art.
As part of the fair's performance art programme, Arpita Akhanda will explore the effects of partitions on the body, while Gurjeet Singh will perform a work inspired by children playing house.
Outdoor art projects at the India Art Fair include an open-air library and a colossal mural by the trans-women and cis-women art collective Aravani Art Project.
BMW, which partnered with the fair, has also commissioned watercolour artist Faiza Hasan to design a wrap for their first all-electric car in India, the iX. Hasan's black, white, and gold design depicts a coming together of different people under a shared night sky.
The India Art Fair was initially scheduled for 3 to 6 February, but was postponed due to the pandemic. It was cancelled altogether in 2021.
'The pandemic has presented immense opportunities for learning and experimentation prompting discussions on the future development of South Asian art,' said director Jaya Asokan.
'Along with a fast-growing digital presence and year-round programming, the return to a physical fair will be a show of our determination and a reminder that India Art Fair is the first place to see and discover artists from the region,' she said. —[O]
