India’s encouraging art scene

Fifth edition of the ambitious India Art Fair opened in the capital city of India. In keeping with the organizers’ promise, it is probably one of the most vibrant and largest displays of contemporary Indian art in the recent years. With more than 100 galleries joining the event displaying work of art by hundreds of artists from 24 countries in 20k sq m of exhibit space, it certainly gives a good chance to get ample idea of the art scene in a country currently with few major museums.

The organizers are confident of drawing no less than 80,000 visitors during the three days of the fair. Joanna Sugden in a blog post on The WSJ pointed out that this year it will be even easier to acquire art, quoting Neha Kirpal, eager to iron out customs issues that collectors have faced in the past. This is what the article details out about various aspects related to the fair:

Getting the artworks in

The burden of dealing with the customs bureaucracy for bringing art in and customs duty of 17 per cent on sales of imported art hampered some international galleries last year.“The speed and efficiency of transferring goods from other countries to India through customs to the fair has improved this year,” Ms. Kirpal said. Galleries can confirm orders at the fair but conduct transactions outside of India to avoid the customs duty, she added. This year the art fair is partnering with international auction house Christie’s, which organizers hope will bring in fresh collectors and boost sales.

‘The collector base is improving.’

The Organizers say works will cost between a few thousand dollars to one million dollars, and they expect a lot of interest from Indian buyers. “The collector base in India is beginning to take off now,” Sandy Angus, co-director of the fair added that within a decade demand for contemporary art in India would reach the levels currently seen in China and Europe. “There is a very broad cross-section of rich Indian middle-class whose aspirations will turn towards collecting contemporary art,” he said. “It’s the next stage in a country’s development.”

A much bigger role envisaged

However, the fair is not just for art lovers with money to spend. In the past five years, said Ms. Kirpal, it has taken on the role played by foundations and publicly funded museums with large collections in other countries. “There is very little state support for the arts,” she said. “What the art fair does is brings everyone of significance together from across the country, artists galleries, curators, thinkers and engages them at several levels.”