With the 13th edition of the India Art Fair (IAF) having opened doors today in Delhi after a pandemic-induced hiatus from its physical format, the art world is buzzing as all kinds of stakeholders flock to the NSIC Exhibition Grounds in Okhla. Conceived as a platform to showcase and discover the best of modern and contemporary art from the regions of India and south Asia, IAF — in partnership with BMW — is providing a platform for 77 exhibitors, including 63 galleries and 14 institutional participants.

At the forefront is Jaya Asokan who took over as director of IAF in April 2021 and has envisioned this year’s edition as an inclusive platform to showcase the diversity of the art practices from the region. During my conversation with Jaya, she makes it clear that IAF is focused on expanding its scope beyond the physical format, to a more holistic platform for the promotion of the arts in the form of year-round cultural events that encourage participation and level the playing ground for different kinds of art practices, including those indigenous to India. The drive towards inclusivity is evident in how young Masters student Anshuka Mahapatra was chosen through an open call to design the facade of the exhibition and how there is a specially curated sphere called Platform to highlight traditional Indian art forms. On till May 1, IAF also has galleries from Calcutta such as Experimenter, Art Exposure and Emami Art participating. In a Telegraph chat, Jaya tells us more:

Aravani Art Project concept for The Future is Femme 2022

What’s your vision for the India Art Fair (IAF) and what has the pandemic changed?

One of the biggest changes we have implemented is to change the format of the fair from four days to something that lasts 365 days — and that’s something that we are very excited about. Whether it is our programming online or the physical events we have been doing in other cities, we really want to do something that is year round, in terms of engagement. We are not completely online but we have definitely upped our game. We have a brand new website as of this year. We have a notice board on our website with grants and jobs for the region listed because that is a great way to give back and people can find it under one banner. Throughout our programme, the fair will always champion new voices alongside established, household names and that is not going to change. But the way we put it out there, especially in the last quarter, has really changed the shape of the fair. So we have really expanded our activities and got things like newly commissioned artist stories, virtual walkthroughs, workshops, parallel exhibitions as well as physical events.

Christian Achenbach’s Sphere 2021, courtesy of Galerie ISA

Tell us about IAF’s virtual avatar in the metaverse…

This our first foray into the metaverse because we actually are not replicating the entire fair but it is for people to feel the experience of a few highlights in this initial version. Maybe for next year, we will think about other experiences such as going into the different galleries too and more.

How do the rapidly changing political sensitivities — and therefore cultural sensitivities — affect the making of something as keenly-watched as IAF?

Your question is very valid today and I’ll be very honest that artists and their voices are the conscience-keepers of a society and since we place their voices at the centre of our programme; for us, this year is no different because the voice is through them. We have over 500 artists showcasing at IAF and they will vary in their responses — whether it is political or social or ecological, across different regions and cultures, from Modernists to traditional art forms. So we strongly believe in art being a form of freedom of expression and what we seek to do is to really provide a safe platform to encourage greater exchange and wider dialogue.

Maya Jay Varadraj’s Twins with Curly Hair and Promises 2021, courtesy of Aicon Contemporary

IAF is providing a platform for indigenous art forms alongside newer practices such as NFT art. How do you bridge the gap between the two so that both can exist alongside each other?

I think it’s not so much about bridging the gap but more about levelling the playing field and our way of doing that is to visually show them on the same level so that people who are experiencing the fair see them all at once. As you said, this year we do have the Platform section and we will be showing a much more inclusive, richer picture of our past. We have also got someone to curate it (Amit Kumar Jain) to uplift it in terms of the fair. By placing it next to whether it’s a modernist or a contemporary great, will uplift the art form itself and make people think about it differently.

Jaya Asokan, director, India Art Fair

What are some of your personal highlights that you look forward to presenting to people?

Definitely the facade is the largest canvas in Delhi as it is huge, for which we had done an open call with a non-profit called Artdemic. This is very exciting for us as it could give an opportunity to someone who is young. For the first time this year, we have also used elements of the facade in an Instagram filter. It’s been a year, experimenting to see what we can do while working with our young artists.

Pictures: Courtesy of IAF