The Success Story of India's First International Art Fair

[Contemporary]

The recent Art Summit was the Indian art scene’s attempt to climb a
new rung in its international aspirations, says NISHA SUSAN
An astounding 10,000 art enthusiasts walked in to witness India’s
First International Art Fair, India Art Summit(TM) 2008, firmly
establishing it as a one stop destination for art in India. With an
overwhelming mix of art collectors, artists, critics, curators,
students and art enthusiasts from across India and overseas, the
Summit achieved exactly what it set out to - making art, and the
knowledge of art, accessible to a widespread audience.
Commercially speaking, the fair clocked in a record sale of
approximately 50%, with the 34 participating galleries selling over
280 artworks worth Rs.10 crores approximately. Given that the total
value of the 550 artworks on display was approximately Rs. 20 crores,
India Art Summit has emerged as one of the most successful first
editions of any art fair across the world.
With all eyes now on India, event producers Hanmer MS&L, have
announced plans to schedule India Art Summit 2009 between 19th - 22nd
August’ 2009 in New Delhi. Next year, the fair is proposed to be over
three times bigger and applications are already pouring in from across
India and world. While in the first year, the focus was largely on
Indian art and Indian galleries, the second year will see
participation from galleries across the world showcasing a sizeable
array of artworks from different parts of the world.

Ashok Art Gallery is a five-yearold Delhi gallery that largely
functions online. A mom-and-pop operation with a handful of unknown
artists, Ashok Art Gallery has never had any exposure in the media.
Their only previous art fair experience was with the Mumbai art expo
earlier this year. As one among 35 galleries that participated in the
recent India Art Summit (between August 22 and 25), Ashok Art Gallery
did not expect to become frontpage news. But their 27-year-old Oriya
artist Kanta Kishore’s marble sculptures of rolled-up newspapers were
sold within hours of the fair’s opening. Gallerists Ashok Nayak and
Kavita Vig, Kavita’s husband Bharat and septuagenarian mother-in-law
watched astonished as the art young Indian superstar Subodh Gupta and
politician Maneka Gandhi came to their stall. And in their wake,
thousands of visitors and the press.Sculptures and installations sold
almost as well as paintings, signalling a new trend. The panel of
speakers and choice of topics at the Art Forum also drew many
accolades and was deemed as amongst one of the best such initiatives
of its kind, internationally.

Mr. Sunil Gautam, Managing Director, Hanmer MS&L commenting on the
fair said, “It is great to see that India Art Summit has emerged as
the most inclusive collaborative art platform in India in it’s very
first year. We believe that this initiative is a step in the right
direction to put India on the global art fair circuit.”
Commenting on the success of the fair, Mr. Philip Hoffman, Chief
Executive, The Fine Art Fund said “The Indian market is very important
in the global art scene and this fair is a major step. I can imagine
this to be major fair in Asia competing alongside London, Miami and
Basel in the next 5-10 years. The sales results of the fair seemed
very impressive by comparison to other fairs in their first year.”

India Art Summit - Backgrounder
The art fraternity in India has for long felt a gap and the need for a
collaborative industry platform in the country owing to the phenomenal
growth and global interest in Indian art. While the art fraternity the
world over gets numerous opportunities to interact and collaborate
through various art fairs, biennales & expos, there was no such
platform in India. Therefore the time was right for India to offer a
suitable platform for art. The initiative has received invaluable
recognition and endorsement from the Ministry of Culture, Government
of India and Sotheby’s.
The Summit hopes to achieve the dual purpose of, on one hand, serving
as a window for International collectors to get a single access point
to Indian art and, on the other, exposing the Indian collectors to a
range of global Art that will be showcased at the fair in the coming
years. More than just a place for buying and selling art, this
initiative will enable diverse stakeholders from India and around the
world to come together and discuss the creative and commercial aspects
of Indian art.
Today, Indian art is greatly appreciated both internationally and
within the country, annually growing at 30-35%, the Indian art market
is currently worth Rs 1500 crores. The Indian art market has gone up
by 485 percent in the last decade making it the fourth most buoyant
art market in the world. The total auction market size of Indian art
has changed from US $5 million in 2003 - just five years back - to
nearly US $150 million this year.

http://ashokartgallery.gather.com