Opinion So many eyes for art
The India Art Fair sees the emergence of a new viewership
The India Art Fair sees the emergence of a new viewership
When the first India Art Summit took place in Delhi in 2008,it met with disdain and scepticism from the most respectable quarters of the art world as commoditisation of art in globalised times. From its tentative beginnings as the India Art Summit to its avatar as a fully fledged fair in the fourth edition this year,it has come of age. At the India Art Fair that got over on Sunday,there were 96 exhibitors,a phalanx of a thousand contemporary artists from 20 countries in the general exhibition section spread over a 12,000 sq m custom-built space. Damien Hirst from White Cube and Marina Abramovic from Lisson Gallery turned out to be the highlights of the fair.
While about 60 per cent of the galleries were from Asia (with Indian galleries making up for 50 per cent),26 per cent were from Europe,and the remaining 14 per cent from the North and South Americas,the Middle East,Africa and Australia. What its former critics are forced to reckon with this time are this mix of countries and the festivals capacity as a compelling crowdpuller.
India does not suffer from a dearth of museums and galleries but these are frequented by a niche crowd of art lovers. It is no wonder that the rise of this new public at the India Art Fair has made many rethink their criteria of what an art event is and have raised questions. Does this indicate a new democratisation of art reception and will it generate a new level of visual literacy among the public? Never in the history of the reception of modern and contemporary art in India has a single venue attracted such a huge turnout of people. It was over 1 lakh last year and this year,with the fair at Okhla,away from Pragati Maidan,the perennial exhibition space of central Delhi,saw a different level of engagement between the people and art.
The artworks ranged from the most visually spectacular to the conceptual,spanning genres and mediums,from easel paintings to multimedia installations. Works dictated their temporality while some grabbed the eyeballs instantly via the spectacle,others on video screens or on pedestals demanded a slow-paced engagement that opened up to those who watched them with patience. Although fair implies stalls that reach out to buyers,many galleries created space for reading and a contemplative engagement with art works. There was a video lounge and site-specific and interactive art projects.
While walking beside the art-struck people who were jostling with each other to stand face to face with contemporary art works from all over the world,I was more attentive to the public,the expressions on their faces and the floating remarks of bewilderment,excitement and sometimes confusion. Is that by Anish Kapoor? So this is by Damien Hirst! I wish someone could explain this. There were guided tours by art students but to address every query of the intrigued public was understandably beyond their means.
A Speakers Forum offered a platform for art critics,curators,artists,art collectors and members from corporate houses and auction houses to reflect on how to interpret contemporary art and its wider role in the public sphere. Given the current climate of censorship and sensitivity and the Salman Rushdie controversy rocking the Jaipur Literature Festival,the decision to conclude the Art Fair with a tribute to M.F. Husain with his film,Through the Eyes of a Painter,was an important gesture.
The India Art Fair has made its mark compellingly in the contemporary art world. I wonder if its current success in attracting the public has anything to do with,what Ravi Sundaram refers to as the post-media public. The new public with its access to mobile telephony and technology are potential curators,photographers and archivists,much like contemporary artists themselves and can be no longer seen as passive consumers of art.
The writer is a professor in the Department of Visual Studies,School of Arts and Aesthetics,JNU,Delhi
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