Twin Loss

Till now,the art district of Delhi,Lado Sarai,was in the news for fast mushrooming galleries. Now,there is also news of some of them shutting shop. Two of the oldest galleries in the area,Gallery Threshold and Gallery Ragini,are now moving out of the art street. While Gallery Threshold will find new home in Sarvodaya Enclave,Gallery Ragini has moved to The Claridges hotel on Aurangzeb Road. “We were the first to move to the area in 2008,with Anant Art. When we spotted the space in 2006-07,the market was booming but now,when it’s slowing down,it seemed sensible for us to move into our own space,” says Tunty Chauhan,director of Gallery Threshold.

Nidhi Jain,director of Gallery Ragini,cites growing commercialisation in the area as a reason for her move. “Our aim is to promote young talent and,with so many new spaces with divergent programmes,we felt there was a distraction from our purpose,” says Jain.

While she intends to open another space,she also has a gallery within The Claridges. “Many people are intimidated

by galleries,but here we have several walk-ins and foreigners,” says Jain.

Vandana Kalra