INTERVIEW: “THE FAIR MUST NOW GET ITS OWN LIFESTYLE CHARACTER”

Neha Kirpal, Founder-Director, India Art Fair

courtesy: BLOUIN ArtINFO

Just before the birth of the India Art Fair (IAF) in August 2008, the country’s art market had been doing well with record prices for works by top masters. The younger lot of artists too had begun to join the masters in making records at international auctions. So, an art fair was a foregone conclusion. However, when the new entity finally took birth, the world economy went into recession. Not many would have given the IAF any chance in those circumstances. 

But, the IAF not only survived, it even grew stronger and bigger with each passing edition and is now an important highlight of the global art calendar. Its founder-director Neha Kirpal speaks at length about the journey so far and the road ahead.

As the India Art Fair (IAF) gets into its 7th edition, can you sum up the going so far?

It has been quite challenging but we are here for the long term. We had launched the same month when the Lehmann brothers had collapsed but, we are past that stage. It’s not easy moving forward all the time but we want to build this as a viable, self-sustaining business. We recognize that growth will be slow and we are not here to make money. We are here to build the market from ground up, for a deeper engagement with top-end patronage such as serious collectors and museums. We are trying to do that by offering an attractive and quality experience at the art fair. This time, we’ve seriously invested in curated projects as we want to create more inspiration, to infuse more creative energy into the art world.

How much has the IAF succeeded in transforming art practices within India?

I think there has been a perceptible trickle-down effect of the India Art Fair. The entire art universe has evolved, even in Delhi and Mumbai, the traditional art hubs of the region. We’ve seen the evolution of art market and infrastructure; art writing/ curating/ publishing too has got better. The IAF has truly been a catalyst because not only galleries have transformed themselves and grown in quality but there has also been quality growth in art framing, shipping, consultancy, etc. It has seen the emergence of Delhi as the cultural capital of the country even though historically, Mumbai has been more important in terms of the market. Then, there has been a spillover, especially in north India with art activities upping in Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and Baroda to name a few centers. We are seeing big participation from the realty sector that is using the fair to source art for their new constructions. For instance, about 30 architectural firms are participating at the fair this time.

The spillover has been beyond the Indian boundary too.

Right! There is an overwhelming excitement throughout the subcontinent. The best thing about creativity is that it makes boundaries disappear. The entire region has benefitted and within India, there is interest in art from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. We’ve actively supported art activities throughout the region. I can say that the India Art Fair has put the Indian subcontinent on the world map.

You mentioned about the crossover with other sectors such as design and architecture.

Yes, the India Art Fair has given a big cultural dose to Delhi, affecting design, architecture, realty in its wake. Even though we continue to build interest in communities, we need to have more such crossovers. At the closing party of the forthcoming edition, we will have a specially curated project based on architecture, called the Corbusier Project, which will be something like Delhi meets Mumbai, art meets design.

Most art fairs of the world have an active and discernible lifestyle component. Is the India Art Fair getting there?

Yes, we are also focusing on lifestyle aspect of the cultural capital to make it more livable. We’ve paid a lot of attention to hospitality, hotels, restaurants, cuisines – food is really an important part of the art experience. In the evening, there will be a band playing on a stage and we’ve arranged lunches at roof tops for high end consumers of art. We want to make India Art Fair a total experience with a certain lifestyle character of its own.

India Art Fair will be held from January 29 to February 1, 2015 in New Delhi.