One of the bigger art gatherings that Delhi has seen since the pandemic began, the India Art Festival is underway

Even as the Capital prepares for the more upmarket India Art Fair, slated to take place later this month, there are signs of normalcy returning to the art market. While several much-awaited exhibitions are finally opening at art galleries, on April 7 Delhi saw the inauguration of perhaps one of the bigger art gatherings that it has seen since the pandemic began. The India Art Festival was inaugurated at the Constitution Club of India, Rafi Marg. “There is a lot of enthusiasm, both from the exhibitors and visitors, and we are glad that this is finally happening,” stated Rajendra Patil, Director, India Art Festival. With over 80 booths, the festival that is on till April 10 features over 3,500 artworks 450 arts and has as participants 25 art galleries.
The omicron variant delayed that edition from January to now, but the participants are delighted to be meeting their viewers face-to-face. (Express photo Abhinav Saha)
When the first national lockdown was announced in March 2020, like several others, Patil had not imagined that the pandemic would last more than two years. “We thought things would normalise in a few months and were actually preparing for the Bengaluru edition of the festival in April 2020, but that kept on getting pushed. Organising such festivals requires pre-planning and that was difficult due to the uncertainties that came with COVID,” adds Patil. Though he did resort to the online mode to organise a virtual edition of the festival in 2021, when the number of COVID cases seemed to be dwindling in October, he floated a proposal to resume the physical festival. The omicron variant delayed that edition from January to now, but the participants are delighted to be meeting their viewers face-to-face.

“It feels great to be meeting people and discussing art with them personally after two years. Art is all about look and feel and that is also how people develop better understanding,” says Siddhant Upadhye, co-founder, Gallery Pioneer. Showing works of masters such as FN Souza, MF Husain and SH Raza at the festival, alongside younger arts, he adds, “We look at this as a platform to increase art awareness, introduce people to works of different arts. Several of them come back to us later for purchases. Today, it is day one of the festival and we have already sold some works. So it is a positive start.”
With over 80 booths, the festival that is on till April 10 features over 3,500 artworks 450 arts and has as participants 25 art galleries (Express photo Abhinav Saha)
Sharing her works at a public platform for the first time, Gurugram-based art Binu Suneja is showing miniature sculptures in polymer clay that are 2-4 inches. “I initially started these works due to space constraints but the outcome has been good and their uniqueness has attracted a lot of attention,” says Suneja.

While the display at the festival is dominated up-and-coming arts, Mumbai-based art enterprise Mriya Arts is showing its Tanjore collection. “Our forte is majorly traditional art form and Tanjore is a big part of it. The Tanjores we have brought to the festival are at least 60 to 70 years old. Since we have been participating at the festival in Delhi for five years now, we understand the market and the preferences of the audience here, and select works accordingly,” says Mriya S Shah, co-director of enterprise. She adds, “We are waiting to see how the response is but it feels good to be at a place like this after two years. The sales did take a hit during Covid but we managed to sell through organic marketing and our regular private clientele.”
26,000 people attended the festival in Delhi in 2019 (Express photo Abhinav Saha)
Patil is hoping to record footfalls higher than the 2019 edition, when more than 26,000 people attended the festival in Delhi. After wrapping up the edition in Delhi, he is preparing for the Bengaluru edition from May 5 to 8, followed Mumbai from May 26 to 29. “We thought of organising the festival at a smaller venue in Delhi, this year, because we did not expect such overwhelming participation given the economic impact of COVID but people seem to be looking forward to this, to be able to finally share art. We had to turn down participants due to lack of space. We hope things look up from here,” says Patil.
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