India Art Fair (IAF), starting from January 30 to February 2 next year, will continue its celebration of the thriving modern day art scene across South Asia.
To be held at the NSIC Grounds in Okhla, the festival, now in its 12th edition, will feature over 75 exhibitors from 20 global and 11 Indian cities showcasing cutting-edge contemporary visual art alongside with modern masters, as well as vernacular artistic traditions.
"We are grateful to the art community from South Asia and around the world which comes together to celebrate the India Art Fair week.
"Now in its 12th year, the fair will return to New Delhi with a strong showcase of galleries from across India with a continual commitment to the fair, providing a minimum of 70 per cent floor space to leading cultural spaces from the region, complemented by a selection of international galleries and extended programme of live performances and talks," said Jagdip Jagpal, Fair director.
The diverse selection of contemporary art galleries from across the country will include Chemould Prescott Road, Chatterjee & Lal, Jhaveri Contemporary, Galerie ISA, Project 88, and TARQ -- all from Mumbai.
From Delhi, there will be Art Heritage, Blueprint 12, Exhibit 320, Gallery Espace, Nature Morte, PHOTOINK, Shrine Empire, and Vadehra Art Gallery.
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Also, returning to the fair would be Kolkata-based galleries Experimenter, Emami Art, Chennai-based Art Houz, and Gallery Veda, Hyderabad-based Kalakriti Art Gallery, and a first-time participant Gallery White from Vadodara.
New international galleries participating in the fair for the first time include Saskia Fernando Gallery (Colombo, Sri Lanka), PSM (Berlin, Germany), Marc Straus (New York, USA) and Gallery Tableau (Seoul, South Korea).
Returning international galleries include David Zwirner (London,UK/New York, USA/Hong Kong), neugerriemschneider (Berlin, Germany), Aicon Art (New York, USA), Aicon Contemporary (New York, USA), Grosvenor Gallery (London, UK), and 1X1 Art Gallery (Dubai, UAE).
"We are excited to welcome young galleries from India including Art Explore and Gallery White, alongside new participants from across the globe with Saskia Fernando Gallery from Sri Lanka, PSM from Germany and Marc Straus from the United States," Jagpal said.
The 2020 IAF showcase will be presented in dialogue with exceptional historical pieces from the region's leading modernists and India's most established galleries like DAG, Dhoomimal Gallery, Crayon Art Gallery (all Delhi), alongside limited-edition modernist prints from Archer Art Gallery (Ahmedabad).
This year's 'Focus' section, which showcases pivotal solo presentations curated by participating galleries includes Ratheesh T by Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke (Mumbai), Girjesh Kumar Singh by Rukshaan Art (Mumbai), Anjan Modak by Emami Art, Avijit Dutta by Kalakriti Art Gallery, D Dhasan by Apparao Galleries (Chennai), K S Radhakrishnan by Gallerie Nvya (New Delhi), and Subodh Kerkar by Gallery Art Positive (Delhi).
'Platform', a popular section of the fair that acts as a springboard for emerging artists, art practices and collectives from South Asia, will include Britto Arts Trust (Dhaka), Delhi Crafts Council (Delhi) and Metta Contemporary (Navi Mumbai) returning following their 2019 participation.
New participants under this section will be Delhi-based galleries Arts of the Earth and Gallery Ragini that will highlight vernacular art forms.
Leading cultural organisations and foundations from the region will exhibit under 'Institutions', with presentations by Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA), Inlaks India Foundation (New Delhi) and Korean Cultural Centre India (all Delhi).
Swaraj Art Archive (Noida) will throw light light on the early 20th century artworks from India, while the recently established Kolkata Centre for Creativity (Kolkata) and Chennai Photo Biennale (Chennai) will make their debut.
Following the success of the 'Performance Art Programme' in bringing new audiences in the last edition, the 2020 fair will present a strong line-up of leading artists including Maya Krishna Rao, national-award winning theatre performer and social activist; Lagos-based multimedia artist Jelili Atiku whose works address political concerns for human rights and justice; and multi-disciplinary artist Piyali Ghosh following from her recent exhibition at the Venice Biennale.
Offering a public platform for dialogues and discussions, 'Auditorium Talks', will feature artist presentations, memorial lectures and conversations across the art world.
Celebrating critical experimentation and the work of artists, curators, critics, collectors and institutions across the globe, highlights from the artist talks include modernist Nilima Sheikh, Turner prize nominated Bangladeshi-British artist Naeem Mohaiemen, Polish-German sculptural installation artist Alicja Kwade and Magnum photographer Martin Parr.
This year's memorial lectures, dedicated to the life and works of modernist Ram Kumar and artist Tushar Joag, will be conducted by experts Kishore Singh and Shireen Gandhy respectively.
Beyond the fair venue, 'IAF Parallel' will provide a platform to navigate the thriving cultural scene, with collateral events programmed by galleries, museums and arts spaces around the city.
Highlights include the opening of the newly refurbished Jaipur House at National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) to house its rich permanent collection; a group exhibition at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art which will be the pillar of the India Art Fair week; solo exhibitions by Remen Chopra at the Gujral Foundation, Chto Delat at Khoj International Artists Association, Dhruvi Acharya at Nature Morte; Ravinder Reddy and Atul Dodiya at Vadehra Art Gallery.