MAY 24 2022 After two years of pandemic, India Art Festival is presenting its 10th edition in the city from 26 to 29 May 2022 at Nehru Centre, Worli, after successful editions at Delhi and Bengaluru in the last two months. The Mumbai edition of India Art Festival with 45 art galleries and 550 artists is back after two years with renewed vigour. India Art Festival has hosted 20 successful editions so far in the last twelve years at Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru.
23 May2022 : Rajendra Patil, Festival Director, India Art Festival shares “It has been very tough journey for art fraternity in the last two years of covid pandemic, as showcasing art and inviting large gatherings were restricted. We saw boom of online art shows, art festivals – 2Ds, 3Ds in all formats during the pandemic and came to the hard-earned conclusion that nothing can replace physical exhibitions at venues where in artists, gallerists, art enthusiasts, art writes and art buyers come together and interact under one roof. The art market spaces provided by annual art fairs across the world are proved to be reliable source to acquired art and contribute considerable part of annual art and antique market turnover”
The India Art Festival (IAF), a contemporary art fair aims to be an art platform for all levels of artists, rural or urban, is now in its tenth edition at Mumbai. The dual-module pattern that the Art Festival has adhered to over the years – the Galleries and the Artists Pavilion has proven successful in the bygone editions.
Though art galleries too are one of the prime art market constituents, the art festivals have helped bring out art to the public arena, at easily accessible spaces to one and all. The thousands of artworks available in the art festival along with ready statistics of comparative prices and an opportunity for firsthand interaction with the artists & art writes under one roof made art fairs popular with the art buyers surpassing the conventional sale figures in art galleries. Today’s art buyers are highly busy ‘working class’ who look for saving time required to explore various art spaces scattered around the city! Not only major art galleries, but even mid-level to smaller galleries prefer today to operate from office spaces and achieve their annual sale target through participation in the domestic and international art fairs.
The most awaited annual ‘celebration of contemporary art’ – India Art Festival, known for its ‘democratic representation of art’ hosted three annual editions at Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru within a span of two months this year!! This growth and expansion of India Art Festival from single annual edition to three yearly editions in three major metro cities in the last twelve years show the growing interest in Indian art. Rajendra Patil, art festival director further adds, “The entry of nouveau rich ‘super busy working class’ of art buyers on the art market horizon not only helped sustain the art festival in the difficult times but injected phenomenal growth in scale, quality and number of art festival editions annually”.
The ground floor of discovery of India building in Nehru Centre houses over 50 booths occupied by art galleries representing their fresh talented artists whereas 100 booths on the second floor are occupied by art galleries as well as independent artists. Art Festival Director Rajendra confirms “The art gallery booths on the ground floor were booked even before the pandemic was over early this year… Since last few years many art galleries are also occupying the booths on to the second floor; this year nearly 40 % of space of the Artist’s Pavilion is now occupied by art galleries.”
