How does an art scene come to be? It starts from the ground up — through acts of collaboration, friendship and community among artists, who want to create spaces within which they can imagine and create. In India and South Asia, there is a long history of such spaces within which new ideas in contemporary art have been born. Artists in the region have been working proficiently, inspired by shared histories, global developments and new mediums to create forms with which to understand contemporary life in South Asia. India Art Fair, since its establishment in 2008, has been the foremost international platform for these important artists, aesthetics and ideas, previously missing from the global conversation. And not just an annual event, the fair is a core presence in the lives of the region’s artists, championing their voices through all its work with galleries, institutions, partners and collectors around the year.
The annual India Art Fair in New Delhi is a staple in the global arts winter calendar and widely considered one of the most important contemporary art fairs in the world. The fair has grown with each step, from hosting a small group of galleries from Delhi and Mumbai — in its first edition as ‘India Art Summit’ in 2008 — to now bring together more than a hundred exhibitors to its tents, spanning galleries from all parts of the country and top blue-chip galleries presenting international art superstars. Throughout these years of rapid growth, we have stayed committed to our home base and taken pride in the incredible achievements of our artists, galleries, and partners on the international stage. The past three years have seen the meteoric rise of Indian and South Asian contemporary art in the global eye, with important museum shows of our artists in venues such as the Barbican in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Gropius Bau in Berlin; inclusions in major events such as the Venice Biennale; record-breaking sales in auctions; and in parallel cultural worlds such as the Paris Haute Couture Week. The Artsy Market Recap reported that the demand for Indian artists increased more than for any other nationality in 2024. We are proud to be the first and continued champions of many of the artists and galleries who are now getting recognition internationally. The fair has been the venue for many first conversations between artists, creatives, curators, collectors, philanthropists and museum heads that have now borne fruit.
Besides gallery booth presentations, India Art Fair features a dynamic lineup of programmes including performances, talks and workshops, designed to engage audiences of all kinds in the power of art and creativity. Images courtesy of India Art Fair
India Art Fair has grown and thrived due to its spirit of collaboration. With no prior model of a contemporary art fair in India when we first started, we have succeeded through creative partnerships with other cultural leaders in the region from allied fields such as fashion, architecture, heritage and more — learning from and welcoming all those interested in contemporary art into the fold. The fair has always sought to break barriers to entry and make art more accessible by fostering dialogues between art and other creative disciplines. The fair’s Design section, launched in 2024 with great success, is a result of this philosophy, showcasing the region’s best collectible, unique and limited-edition design works alongside modern and contemporary art. A tour of the fair makes its expansive scope clear — galleries from India and the world, design studios, museum presentations, booths by foundations and festivals and independent artist projects co-exist under one roof. Among its visitors are the entire range of cultural players — from top international museum directors to students, emerging artists, fashion designers, creatives and every kind of art and culture lover in between.
India Art Fair has always been the foremost platform for the discovery of South Asian modern and contemporary art. Image courtesy of India Art Fair
The fair’s legacy expands beyond an annual moment in Delhi. Over the years, the fair has naturally evolved to become an essential partner to other arts and culture initiatives around the country, organising collector weekends in cities like Chennai and Kolkata, supporting gallery weekends, cultural festivals and more. We support many sizeable artist prizes, fellowship opportunities and host our very own artists-in-residence, the young winners of which have gone on to great successes, showing in major galleries in India and internationally. Its website editorial is now a one-of-a-kind bank of insight into South Asian contemporary art and artists, information usually unavailable to the public. India Art Fair, in its more than 15 years, has steadily created the infrastructure needed to support and cohere India and South Asia’s art scene, and to create more possibilities for its future growth. As we grow, we continue to build bridges and opportunities for the success of all the artists, galleries, partners and collectors, who have been a part of the fair and will join our future editions and projects.
Jaya Asokan
Fair Director, India Art Fair
