Cool sneakers or boots for the day and high heels at night are my uniform for art fairs and this year in Delhi was no different. Wise footwear is critical since, across the world, these fairs are celebrated for their art, and their relentless nights on the town. Last week, the 10th edition of the India Art Fair in Delhi had both in spades. After the MCH Group, which owns Art Basel, purchased a majority stake two years ago, there was considerable anticipation as to what direction the fair would take. Well, its new director, Jagdip Jaspal, who previously worked at the UK’s Tate museum, is committed to showing the best Indian art galleries and stayed true to her word. Many gallerist friends like Priya and Amrita Jhaveri of Jhaveri Contemporary, Mortimer Chatterjee and Tara Lal of Chatterjee & Lal, and Bhavna Kakkar of Latitude 28, who had sat the fair out previously, had returned this year.
I had flown in on Thursday afternoon, missing both Roshni and Parul Vadehra’s opening for Anju Dodiya’s solo show at Bikaner House and collector and socialite Shalini Passi’s grand, at-home luncheon. Delhi traffic makes the road woes of other Indian cities seem amateur and although I was desperate to make it to the Vivan Sunderam opening at the Kiran Nadar museum, it seemed a herculean task to manage traffic from there to dinner for the Asia Society’s Game Changer Awards. Bunty Chand, Asia Society head, had told me I was anchoring a table so I didn’t want to be late. The turn out was amazing, a mix of big money art collectors, artists, journalists and social scientists. From there, it was on to the Sotheby’s ‘underground’ party hosted by Gaurav Bhatia and my old friend Tahir Sultan. Tahir had installed a number of young artist works in and around his apartment and at one point, as I stared at a bunch of cleverly hung coconuts trying to decipher their import, I realized it wasn’t art but a nariyalpani wallah serving coconut water!
The next morning, I ambled off to the fair in my most worn in boots (thigh high maroon Stuart Weitzmans). Style is something the art world possesses in droves, the more eclectic the better, so choosing one’s daily and evening ensembles requires thought. My choice of a metallic silver sweater and black jeans was positively pedestrian considering the slick pantsuits and dresses in high heels milling about.
Art collecting is a madness, said the low profile, high patron collector Rajiv Savara to me once, and he is right. Collectors have an urgent expectancy to see and acquire. It’s a hunt. Most important buyers come in as early as possible – sometimes even before the VIP preview opens. I was at the fair at 11:30, did a focused walk-about, and noticed that it was a much more tightly curated affair. In total, 78 galleries showed and while there were some misses, for the most part it was strong.
As I lusted after works at Vadehra (Atul Dodiya, NS Harsha, Nataraj Sharma) Nature Morte (Tanya Goel), Chemould Prescott Road (Shilpa Gupta, Jitish Kallat), Jhaveri (Monica Correa), Gallery SKE (Astha Butail, Sudarshan Shetty), Gallery Isa (Antonio Santin, Aldo Chaparro), Photoink (Amit Madheshiya),Chatterjee & Lal (Nikhil Chopra, Mark Prime) – it looked like most works were snapped up. Individual public artist projects, including Shilpa Gupta’s interactive video projection supported by the Foundation of Indian Contemporary Art, attracted much footfall. Lingering over DAG’s impressive Nine Gems exhibit to commemorate its 25th anniversary, with works by Amrita Sher-Gil, Raja Ravi Varma, Rabindranath Tagore and Nandlal Bose, amongst others, I saw photographers and iPhones pop out. Peering around, I spotted Sonia Gandhi in the booth, taking it all in.
From there, it was on to the Gujral Foundation, and a quick change, trading in my morning ensemble for a billowing Balenciaga floral blouse, black pants by The Row, and hot pink satin Balenciaga heels. Then it was off to the Saffronart preview and later, to collectors Tarana and Tarun Sawhney's dinner, which lived up to all the hype only a Delhi house party provides. I snuck off before 1:00AM, and missed everyone tearing up the dance floor.
The next morning, it was off to an intimate breakfast hosted by uber powerful international David Zwirner gallery, which was participating in the fair for the first time, bringing works by superstar artists like Yayoi Kusama and Oscar Murillo to India. I couldn't miss the Crafts Museum textile show, a tribute to the late Martand Singh. It is a must visit; the exquisiteness and skills of the weaves on display are awe inducing. Sonia Gandhi was there too. Clearly we were chalking the same route. Unfortunately, I had to skip Kiran Nadar’s lunch, the Vadehra sit down dinner, the BMW party and Sanjay Garg's bash to high tail it back to Mumbai. Exhausted but enthused, I came away feeling like the tide is finally turning for the Indian art scene.
This fortnightly column tracks the indulgent pursuits of the one-percenters.
