The backstory
About a decade ago, the art industry was going through a strange transition. The “middle class intelligensia” — the professors, doctors, lawyers — who had understood and supported the flourishing of Indian contemporary art, was fast getting alienated from the market. Sure, the art itself still found buyers. But pieces would mostly end up boardrooms or in someone’s locker, having been bought as an investment. The trend was “dangerous and worrying,” she says, and to repair it, Rakhi Sarkar, together with the likes of artists Ganesh Pyne and Jogen Choudhury in 2008, started the CIMA Art Mela in Kolkata, an initiative of her CIMA Arts Gallery based in the same city. They set out to make art more accessible, affordable, and to democratise its market — buzzwords that most art fairs today are repeating.
Why it’s an art mela, not an art fair
All art is “decently priced”, and the pieces don’t reflect high art, jargon, or art history, says Sarkar. It will be presented “salon-style”, with none of the work framed, only mounted. This cuts costs and also lets curious audiences feel its texture. The mela will also encourage open-ended and informal discussions. “We’re trying to break barriers and democratise the space for the collector as well as the artist,” Sarkar adds.
Rakhi Sarkar, Founder CIMA
The Delhi buyer
Expect young, late-millennial parents. They typically work at the big multinationals, have the purchasing power to match their aspirational lifestyle. For Sarkar, the endearing bit is that this demographic is also bringing along its children, who instead of whiling away time at a mall perhaps, get to see Indian contemporary art on a Sunday afternoon. When the mela debuted in Delhi last year, Sarkar says there were close to 1,500 buyers. Many more came in just to look around.
Art and artists to be excited about
Of the 85+ artists exhibiting this year, there will be established names like Padma Bhushan awardee Arpita Singh and Santiniketan-based Jogen Chowdhury, along with those from the CIMA Awards talent-pool. This year’s winner, Harendra Kumar Kushwaha, is one to watch out for, with his use of pigment on variously shredded and woven paper. There are also modern takes on traditional forms, like Bengal pattachitra paintings, by young artists — where pattachitra would earlier only depict tales of gods and godesses, these iterations dip into everyday scenes from contemporary life.
April 12 - 16, 10 a.m. - 8 p.m., Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road. For more: Cimaartindia.com
