NSIC Grounds, Delhi | 28 April – 1 May 2022
India Art Fair opened its doors on April 28th with great excitement from viewers and reports of strong early sales. The 2022 edition of the fair showcases an expanded list of 77 exhibitors, including 63 galleries and 14 institutional participants.
Helmed by Jaya Asokan for the first time since her appointment in April 2021, this edition is a testament to the resilience of the Indian and South Asian art market and the art community at large. Through an open call in collaboration with The Gujral Foundation and Artdemic, artist Anshuka Mahapatra has been selected to design the tent facade of the 2022 fair.
The fair spotlights the next generation of artists alongside modern masters through initiatives including auditorium talks, performances, outdoor art projects, artist-led workshops, and an online symposium in the run-up to the fair.
Jaya Asokan, Fair Director of India Art Fair, said, “India Art Fair’s return to its physical format has been a cause of great excitement for the Indian and South Asian art scene. The energy we have seen so far has been incredible, not just from our returning galleries and patrons but also a whole new generation and base of artists, art lovers, and young collectors.”
Debutant Indian Art Galleries
Art House (Mumbai)
Art Incept (Gurugram / New Delhi)
Gallery Art Exposure (Kolkata)
Modern Art Gallery (New Delhi)
Ojas Art (New Delhi)
Terrain. art (New Delhi)
Vida Heydari Contemporary (Pune)
Special sections
(New) The Studio – Performance art and workshops
A new space at the fair this year is dedicated to making bridges across creative fields beyond visual art, especially technology. Bringing a spirit of playfulness to the fair there is a wide range of projects in The Studio.
- Games from the artist duo Thukral and Tagra.
- Interactive bots from an Indian tech art platform ‘Be Fantastic’ supported by Tezos India.
- A showcase by the winners of Serendipity Arts’ Virtual Art Grants.
- A presentation on the newly opened museum’s collections by MAP-Bangalore.
- A viewer-centric installation on pollution in cities by Khoj International Artists’ Association.
- Space 118 Fine Art Grant winner Tapan Moharana’s installation of shadow puppetry.
- Gurjeet Singh recreates the whimsical world of children playing house through a queer and colorful lens.
- Arpita Akhanda presents an emotional performance exploring the effects of partitions on the body.
- British-Indian artist Hetain Patel presented a very special performance for the first time at the fair supported by British Council India.
Focus – solo shows
- 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)
- Vinod Daroz by Kalakriti Art Gallery (Hyderabad)
- Christian Achenbach by Galerie ISA (Mumbai)
Platform – Patina and Pigment showcasing Indian folk art
- Curator Amit Kumar Jain showcases masterpieces of Gond painting by Jangarh Singh Shyam.
- Madhubani painting by Anmana Devi and Santosh Kumar Das.
- Rare bhuta bronze masks and mukhalingams from coastal Kerala and Karnataka.
- Textiles and wall carpets from Rajasthan.
Outdoor Art Projects
- Library of festival books and Food Lab Grant winning projects by Serendipity Arts.
- A large screen display of iconic works in the past 4 editions of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale by the Kochi Biennale Foundation.
- A 50-feet long mural titled ‘The Future is Femme’ was created by trans-artist collective Aravani Art Project.
- A large-scale metal scrap sculpture by artist Narayan Sinha along the walkway into the fair is supported by Saffronart Foundation.
- An installation made by university students on the power of art therapy by Ashoka University Centre for Well Being.
Auditorium Talks
- Atul Dodiya in conversation with gallerist Shireen Gandhy.
- A Collector Talk by Kiran Nadar, India’s leading art patron and founder of the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in conversation with Dinesh Vazinrani.
- A film presentation and talk by South Asian diasporic artist Hetain Patel.
- Artist presentations by India Art Fair Artists in Residence Haroun Hayward and Indu Antony.
- A conversation between the iconic Indian Magnum photographer Raghu Rai and the French Ambassador to India, Emmanuel Lenain.
- A talk on art and technology titled NFTease will address and give context to the rise of NFTs by Indian NFT artist Raghava KK, Om Malviya of blockchain platform Tezos India, Aparajita Jain of the Indian NFT platform Terrain.art, Kamya Ramachandran of techart platform BeFantastic and radbot creator Vasundhara Das.
- A memorial talk on the late Satish Gujral was given by the renowned art critic Gayatri Sinha.
‘Rediscovery’ – workshop space
The workshop series titled ‘Rediscovery’ is curated by Kriti Sood of LAND (Learning Through Arts, Narrative and Discourse). The various workshops will be led by Gurjeet Singh, Arpita Akhanda, Ritu Jain, and Pratyush Gupta amongst others. The workshops will be open to the public, educators, and students. End
