TAKE on Art x IAF 2024: India Art Fair returns for its 15th edition

Scenes from India Art Fair, Courtesy of India Art Fair

India Art Fair, the leading platform showcasing modern and contemporary art from India and South Asia, returns for its 15th edition at the NSIC Exhibition Grounds in New Delhi from 1 to 4 February 2024. Led in partnership with BMW India, India Art Fair 2024 is the biggest edition yet, featuring 105 exhibitors, including 72 galleries, 7 design studios, and the participation of numerous art institutions, foundations, collectives and organisations.

The fair’s sustained commitment to celebrating and supporting the best of South Asian art and culture features 10 first-time regional institutional participants as part of its mission. It will feature a new Design section of limited edition and handmade collectables, its Talks Programme featuring leading voices in the industry and the Young Collectors’ Programme for the next generation of collectors.

Atelier Ashiesh Shah, Moonshadow Longpi Stambh

The fair’s inaugural Design section hosts pioneering designers and studios, spanning collectable furniture, jewellery and fabrics, with a strong emphasis on contemporary interventions into traditional craftsmanship. The section features limited edition and hand-made collectable designs by studios paying homage to and redefining the centuries-long tradition of craft in the region. Thus recognising the strength of its local talent as well as the burgeoning global interest in India as a design destination. Highlights include Atelier Ashiesh Shah (Mumbai) which transcends the boundaries of art, design, and architecture, drawing inspiration from Indian culture and tribal philosophy to create collectables through collaboration with craftsmen and Karishma Swali & Chanakya School of Craft (Mumbai), showing large-scale handcrafted interdisciplinary works using a variety of needlepoint techniques.

Karishma Swali, Chanakya School of Craft, Forest Dwellers, 2023, Embroidery, Courtesy of Chanakya Foundation

Building on the growth of the Indian art market and economy at large, the 2024 edition of the fair also sees the greatest international participation yet, with 18 international galleries and institutions exhibiting and several leaders of global arts organisations confirmed to participate in the fair’s Talks Programme, ensuring that the fair is a global meeting ground for collectors, curators and art professionals, and strengthening cultural dialogue and ties with the wider international art scene. Supported by JSW and taking place in the fair’s Auditorium, a carefully put-together roster of the leading names in art and culture to converge on ideas past, present and future, placing special emphasis on the place of South Asian art and culture in the world today. International museum heads such as Michael Govan, CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and Klaus Biesenbach, Director of the Neue Nationalgalerie; industry experts such as curator and writer Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Melanie Gerlis, columnist at the Financial Times, Monica Bello, Head of Arts, CERN, supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in India under the initiative SwitzerlandIndia 75; and artists such as Rana Begum, Anita Dube, Barthélémy Toguo and Jitish Kallat; will contribute to the conversations alongside a strong list of creatives, designers, patrons and museum directors from India and South Asia.

Scene from ‘Align & Disrupt’ India Art Fair’s 2023 Talks Programme, Courtesy of India Art Fair

The celebrated Institutions section of the fair includes ‘Antumbra’, an immersive installation by artist Jitish Kallat drawing from Nelson Mandela’s long imprisonment to create a moving reflection on time interwoven with themes of confinement, hope and resilience, jointly presented by the Foundation of Indian Contemporary Art (FICA) (New Delhi) and JSW Foundation (Mumbai); relief prints including a rare 19th century Kalighat woodcut by the Purushottam Public Trust (Vadodara); a showcase of young photographers from the North-East of India by Egaro Photo Festival (Agartala); and mixed-media works by Nepalese artist collective Aakrit exploring their collective identity through practices as diverse as miniature painting and experimental photography, supported by Unnati Cultural Village (Kathmandu).

Now in its third year, India Art Fair’s Young Collectors’ Programme continues its focus on those starting out in their collecting journeys to create a lasting future and sustainable growth for the booming Indian art market. In collaboration with STIR, the programme sees the activation of The Dhan Mill in Chattarpur, New Delhi collaborating with NorBlack NorWhite, Almost Gods and other young design studios based in the area to mirror the launch of the Design section at the fair.

Tayeba Lipi Boots with long lace, 2019, Stainless steel, 7.2 x 3 x 4.3 inches, Edition 2 of 3, Courtesy of Shrine Empire

Find out more about everything happening by tuning into India Art Fair’s social media platform (@indiaartfair). Preview passes and tickets are available via BookMyShow and the India Art Fair website.