14th India Art Fair: Most ambitious edition ever of digital and contemporary art

India Art Fair: At the NSIC Exhibition Ground in Okhla, the most modern version of the fair is now being held. There are 85 exhibitors including 71 galleries and 14 institutes. The exhibits on display include a diverse mix of modern, contemporary, and digital art. In its 14th edition, the fair started on Thursday. It showcases diverse voices in the Indian and international art spheres. It also includes rich Indian works based on Gond, Madhubani, Pattachitra, Kalamkari, Chamba Rumal and Bhil traditions.

Amalgamation of art and technology

The fair this year focuses on a distinctive fusion of art and technology, featuring an expanded studio displaying its ‘Digital Artist at Residence’ initiative. An online platform for artists to create new digital artworks. In her colourful images of ladies titled ‘Log Kya Kahenge’, visual artist and illustrator Mira Felicia Malhotra has emphasized the peculiarities and quirks of Indian family life based on the concept ‘Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary’. Similarly, poet and author Gaurav Ogale is a participant in ‘Top sellers’, an audio-visual book anthology series that examines ‘the incredible stories of ordinary people’.

“By presenting its most ambitious edition ever, the India Art Fair raises the bar”, according to the fair’s director Jaya Ashokan; “The enlarged programme of galleries, talks, performances, workshops, and a new all-woman artist poster. The first-ever Young Collectors Hub in the city sets the setting for powerful artists’ voices to be heard loud and clear.” Contemporary artists make up a sizable portion of the great fair; art enthusiasts are captivated by ‘Valmiki’s Vision of Sunderkand’, one of MF Husain’s final works, which is on display at a stand-by Crayon Art Gallery.

The DAG boasts of a selection of modernist masters, including Husain, FN Souza, Jamini Roy, and Raja Ravi Varma. Dhoomimal Gallery has on show Krishen Khana’s bronze bandwallahs and works by Satish Gujral, Ram Kumar, among others.

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Not Created For Pleasure

The politically vocal side of art is also featured in the works of artists like Vikrant Bhise and Mayuri Chari. They depicted Dr BR Ambedkar and women’s bodies, respectively.

In a readily recognisable hue of blue, Bhise highlights the struggles of the Ambedkarite movement. It also included the condition of labourers, and atrocities against SC/ST communities. The 1997 Ramabai killings and the suicides of Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadavi are also seen.

Chari, in her seminal work – ‘I Was Not Created For Pleasure‘, looks at how women’s bodies are interpreted in modern Indian society and tries to reclaim the space hitherto dominated by men. Touted as the “meeting ground for collectors, curators and art professionals”, the festival is also hosting ‘Align and Disrupt’ talk programmes.

The fair also includes 10 renowned cultural festivals, collectives, and foundations. It also has soft sculptures and book projects by Britto Arts Trust Dhaka and a series of textile panels by Lakshmi Madhavan for the Devi Art Foundation. A group exhibition featuring works by Siwan-based ceramicist Upendra Ram and Chari.