“The India Art Fair has grown to be bigger than many art fairs in the world… It was a true celebration of art, with so many people and literally no space to walk at times. There were visitors from across the country, abroad, professionals, school and college students… and as an artist, it was wonderful to engage with them,” said artist Paresh Maity. At the fair, he had two larger-than-life works — a 116×180 inch canvas, Enlightened City, at the Art Alive booth, and his 16-ft long installation, Rhythmic Resonance: A Visual Raga, within a painted enclosure.

Many of those who attended announced that it had succeeded in drawing in the crowd, both the connoisseurs and the uninitiated. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)

By day four, the tapes meant to maintain distance between the artworks and the viewers were on the ground. At the interactive artworks tent, the waiting lines were longer. Several were waiting to grab the remotes to navigate the path designed by artist Dhruv Jani for a gameplay, while others were outside the enclosure where Myles and Ameya were presenting Orinthoscope, an audio-visual digital piece that allowed them to listen to birdsongs across India.

At the Berlin-based gallery neugerriemschneider booth, protocols were in place to ensure distancing from one of the fair’s showstoppers — the 320 x 1320 cm woma block wall work titled Water Lilies by Chinese contemporary artist Ai Weiwei.

The booth also had works by artists Noa Eshkol, Shilpa Gupta and Olafur Eliasson, among others. “Some of the artists we are presenting are relatively new for the audience, but that’s why we are here. We know it will take some time to sell or meet people who know what we do, but the response has been good, even with regard to sales,” stated gallerist Burkhard Riemschneider.

Visuals from the India Art Fair 2024 at NSIC Okhla in New Delhi. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)

At the IAF for the first time — as part of its inaugural Design Section — Henri Charreau of the global art-design house, Carpenters Workshop Gallery, felt the extension into design was successful. “We have been working in India for some time and given that we have collectible design, which is also art, this was ideal,” stated Charreau.

Other points of attraction at the booth were Karl Lagerfeld’s water fountain, Maarten Baas’s coloured clocks and Ingrid Donat’s bronze pieces. “We have had good sales, including Fragile Future (light sculpture), Nacho Carbonell work and some other pieces too,” added Charreau.

“This is one of the most important fairs in the South Asian region and we feel the response this year is better than the last two years (when they were participants). Our work has got a positive response and we have also made sales, including to some of the more prominent museum figures in India,” said Niroshini Jayasekera, manager, Saskia Fernando Gallery in Colombo.

Visuals from the India Art Fair 2024 at NSIC Okhla in New Delhi. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)