Marking its 15th anniversary this week, the India Art Fair (IAF) in New Delhi, South Asia’s premier commercial art event, returns to the NSIC Exhibition Grounds (1-4 February) for its largest edition to date, with 72 galleries. “India’s art market continues to grow as its wider economy expands. And we are growing with it,” says the fair’s director, Jaya Asokan.
It was a different picture when the fair launched in 2008. The Indian art market had suddenly bottomed out after a spectacular six-year boom period. The climb back has been slow, but secondary market figures are now exceeding those late-2000s heights, while growing numbers of private institutions, foundations and biennials have fostered a more sustainable art ecosystem.
Design hasn’t been displayed properly in this country. We want to show it not as mass market, but as collectible
Jaya Asokan, director, India Art Fair
IAF is one of those institutions, Asokan points out, having played a vital supporting role for the market at a fragile time while also promoting the region’s non-profit organisations. Such efforts are paying off. “We’ve turned a corner,” Asokan says. “We might be smaller than other global markets, but we’re not nascent anymore.”
Perhaps the clearest sign of this maturation is increased competition. For 14 years IAF was the only notable fair in South Asia. That changed last year with the launch of Art Mumbai in November, organised by the heads of India’s largest auction house, SaffronArt. The Mumbai fair is boutique by comparison but has strong ambitions to grow (IAF’s first edition had fewer galleries than Art Mumbai’s). The presence of two major commercial art events in the country invites the question: is the market large enough to accommodate both?
“We congratulate Art Mumbai on its successful first edition and welcome the expansion of the ecosystem—an ecosystem we helped to establish,” Asokan says. “Of course, we are aware of the saturation point with events like ours. Collectors might not want to go to both—it’s natural to skip one. It’s not a bad thing.”
In an expanding market, innovation is key, and this year IAF introduces a new design section (which Asokan says was planned before the launch of Art Mumbai). “Design hasn’t been displayed properly in this country,” Asokan says. “We want to show it not as mass market, but as collectible”. Design studios and in the new section include Studio Renn (Mumbai) and Vikram Goyal (New Delhi).
