Archives IAF 2024

India Art Fair, the leading platform showcasing modern and contemporary art from India and South Asia, closed its landmark 15th edition to reports of robust sales and strong attendance. Taking place 1 – 4 February 2024 at the NSIC Exhibition Grounds in New Delhi, the fair featured a record line-up of 109 exhibitors, including 72 galleries, 23 institutions and 7 debut design studios, among others. Led in partnership with BMW India for the eighth time, the fair brought together galleries, collectors, institutions, artists, designers, organisations and visitors alike, fostering crucial opportunities for dialogue, discovery and exchange. With creative voices at its centre, the fair was a platform for local and international audiences to discover the best of the art scene from South Asia and beyond, ranging from established artists and designers to the emerging talents of tomorrow.

Strong attendance from major private collectors as well as representatives from local, regional, and international art institutions, highlighted the fair’s firmly established reputation as a key event in the art world calendar, and a gateway for global visitors to discover art from the region. 

VIP attendance on the opening day saw an increase of 30%, and visitors in attendance included curators from institutions such as the Deichtorhallen Hamburg, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harvard University, the Family Office for Art, Grounds for Sculpture, and the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial Australia. The fair was attended by leading directors and senior representatives from the Tate, Ishara Art Foundation, Asia Society Museum New York, Seattle Art Museum, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, French Agency for AlUla development, Ashmolean Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the New National Museum of Monaco. Strong representation from Indian institutions and museums included the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Khoj International Artists’ Association, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Serendipity Arts Festival and Chennai Photo Biennale.

The Talks Programme, titled Art Across—, platformed leaders from across the art, design and architecture industries. Speakers included Klaus Biesenbach, Director of the Neue Nationalgalerie, supported by Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, New Delhi, Michael Govan, CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Director and Chief Curator at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), supported by Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, New Delhi, Rebecca Lyons, Director of Collections and Learning, Royal Academy of Arts, Pooja Sood, Director of Khoj International Artists’ Association and Mónica Bello, Head of Arts, CERN, supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in India under the initiative SwitzerlandIndia 75.

India Art Fair’s inaugural Design section showcased limited edition and handmade collectible design by 7 pioneering studios that exemplify the thriving design scene in South Asia. The participants included Vikram Goyal, Ashiesh Shah, Gunjan Gupta, Rooshad Shroff, Studio Renn, de Gournay, and Karishma Swali & Chanakya School of Craft.

The fair also welcomed presentations from more than 15 leading cultural festivals, collectives and foundations in the Institutions section, including Antumbra, an immersive installation by artist Jitish Kallat drawing from Nelson Mandela’s long imprisonment jointly presented by the Foundation of Indian Contemporary Art (FICA) (New Delhi) and JSW Foundation (Mumbai).

The 2024 edition of the fair was committed to continuing our legacy of hosting an all inclusive event from entry to exit, with accessible seating and floor plan, wheelchair ramps, nursing rooms with diaper changing areas, braille guides, tactile artworks, and a programme featuring dedicated tours and sensitisation workshops for people of all abilities in an Inclusion Lab led by Access for All.

From the planning stages to the execution of the fair, Sustainability remains a priority for the fair. The foundation and base structure of the exhibition tents are reused by events taking place before and after the fair with wooden platforming and booth walls also used year on year. With sustainability as a key thread and focus, the fair façade created by artist duo Thukral & Tagra were converted into limited edition collectible bags by Dalit-run Chamar Studio.