Last September, the MCH Group — which runs the high profile Art Basel fairs — created a buzz when it acquired a 60.3% majority stake in the India Art Fair. So naturally, the 2018 edition in February is highly anticipated. Not only will it be the first one conceived by the new owners, but Jagdip Jagpal is taking the reins from founder, and former director, Neha Kirpal.
Jagpal, who lived in London before relocating to New Delhi last August, has had a career in the arts that has shown her interest in looking beyond the local. Among other roles, she’s worked on international partnerships at Tate, and, most recently, with New North + South, a network of 11 art organisations in North England and South Asia — including the Colombo, Dhaka, Lahore, Karachi and Kochi biennales — which is when she became immersed in art from South Asia.
More than the commercial aspect of the fair, Jagpal is focussed on strengthening the India Art Fair’s connections within the art community in the region, and creating a thriving ecosystem for the arts. For instance, Art Projects, a section showcasing commissioned works, will have only South Asian artists, including G Ravinder Reddy, Tanya Goel and Sudipta Das from India, Imran Qureshi and Zoya Siddiqui from Pakistan, and Timothy Hyunsoo Lee from South Korea.
Edited excerpts from an interview:
How did your role at the India Art Fair come about?
The first time I attended was in 2015, just out of interest. I came back in 2016, and again in 2017. So I’d been to the fair a few times, I had a picture of what it was about. You have to come to India or go to Pakistan to see how, with the things going on, young organisations are promoting equality. For instance, I was impressed with what KHOJ was doing. I just wanted to work in a culture of like-minded people as opposed to it being about the money.
That’s a bit contradictory since the art fair is a commercial platform.
What you forget is that there is no art fair if there is no art. One of the reasons I go to fairs is that I want to see artworks that I could not get an opportunity to see. Because, in a way, you have all these exhibitions in one place. And through digital means, you can help people learn about different artists. I’m really focussing on that, and using the website as a means to create content in terms of stories, and how people make things.
We’re working with Jesse Ringham, he’s ex-Tate, and we’re looking at how people in South Asia interact, and how to present things editorially to engage the audience.
And, instead of having five-people panels, I’m changing our talks so there’s a mix. In some cases, it’s a sound installation or a digital work. For example, we are showing a moving image work by British artist Hetain Patel. I’m also launching a new section called ‘I know what you did last summer’, inviting South Asian artists like Waqas Khan to share presentations on their international exhibitions and projects. We will test out a new professional learning programme, offering an in-depth view on issues related to the art industry, such as authentication or importing/exporting and conservation. The Kochi Biennale Foundation has also agreed to participate and will be telling their story at the fair.
Did you have a brief from the MCH Group?
Since I’d been to the fair, and had knowledge about the structures and art culture here, I’d already developed views about what it needed. When I was approached about the role, I’d already articulated what I thought — where the audience is coming from; it’s easy to say international audiences, but what does that mean? How do you engage with them and what are you asking them to come to? Also, I really wanted to focus on Indian and South Asian galleries.
What changes will we see in the 2018 edition?
Everything I’m doing, I’m experimenting a little bit so that we can get it right for 2019. We have a separate space for art projects. I think navigation through the tent is an important one — for people to get the opportunity to not just see the things they came to see, but to view something they may not be interested in.
I’ve also been spending some time going outside of Delhi, building relationships with public institutions. If people come to Delhi for the fair, we want them to be able to use it — like getting Kochi Biennale to come and tell their story. We have plans before 2019 to increase our reach, particularly in unrepresented areas.
What do you mean by unrepresented areas?
Look at the gallery break-up, it’s a list from Delhi and Mumbai. We’re keen to have more from Chennai, Chandigarh, etc. We want to have diversity of thinking, and sometimes that comes because people set up their galleries in different parts of the country.
What are 2018’s art projects?
There’s Imran Qureshi. Ravinder Reddy has created new works. I’m keen to ensure that if we have an art projects tent for the first time, we focus on South Asian artists as opposed to having a mix.
Your vision for 2019?
I’m going to take these strands that we’ve discussed, see how they work and the direction they will take. But one thing we’re aiming for is to have a small number of international galleries, which will bring new works to the fair. Why shouldn’t India have key international artists? People are reading about them, hearing about them, but not everybody has the time or the financial means to go out and see some of these things. That’s really important to me.
February 9-12, at NSIC Exhibition Grounds, New Delhi. Details: indiaartfair.in
Published - January 12, 2018 03:30 pm IST
