India Art Festival 2018 comes to end
India Art Festival in its fourth edition brought together 35 art galleries and 500 artists from 40 cities across the world under one roof at Thyagaraj Stadium, New Delhi. The event which was inaugurated on November 22 and was open for public till November 25, showcased all forms of artistic expressions including painting, sculptures, photography, ceramics, textiles and installations from rural India to metro cities. IAF, founded in 2011 by the publishers of Indian Contemporary Art Journal is the only art fair held annually in two cities – Mumbai and Delhi.
Rajendra, the Festival Director says, "The art scene in Delhi has become event driven and bigger art events are drawing more crowds than solo or group exhibitions in the individual art galleries. Economical art fairs in terms of participation cost are easy for exhibitors to exhibit and recover basic participation cost hence they participate every year. Almost 90% of art galleries and 60% of artists are repeat participants in India Art Festival; this growth is phenomenal in such trying times."
Analysing the growth of art festivals in the sluggish art market, art experts say "The evolution of a strong secondary art market in India in the last decade has created opportunities for mid-level and smaller galleries to exhibit. The artwork of almost all master artists associated with major galleries floats in the secondary market and lands even in the smaller galleries for sale. These galleries look for opportunities to reach out to the larger buyer base in the metro cities like Delhi and Mumbai. As the figure of mid-level to smaller art gallery spaces outnumbered major art galleries in India, participating galleries increased rapidly in India Art Festival. This is also the main reason for the art scene turning more event based affair individual shows."
The participating art galleries in the fourth edition included AL – Yas Creationz, Eminent Art Gallery, F and P Art Gallery, Galerie Art Eterne, Gallerie Ruki, Gallery Pioneer, Grapes Art, Inside Me, Merakii Art House, Moon Beams – Arts Initiative, Shree Yash Art Gallery, Studio Endless Thoughts, Studio Paradise, among many others.
IAF has a dual-module – the art galleries section and the artists' pavilion. This year, besides showcasing the works of 400 established artists, the festival will offer an outstanding panorama of Indian art in the Artists' Pavilion by 100 independent artists from cities like Chennai, Jammu, Tripura and Ahmedabad.
The independent artists include mid-career, established as well as emerging artists. The India Art Festival has successfully expanded the periphery of art choice to city art buyers. The young talent teeming with the unbridled form of creativity will showcase new and radical visual art voices to the art festival.
