Design, dialogue and diversity at 17th India Art Fair

The 17th edition of India Art Fair will be held at the NSIC Exhibition Grounds in New Delhi from February 5 to 8. The fair brings together a record number of 123 exhibitors, including 87 distinguished galleries and 24 major art institutions. The design section spotlights 12 eminent design studios and two design galleries.

Fair director Jaya Asokan says: “The 17th edition of India Art Fair marks a watershed moment for us — not just in scale, but in reach. With a record number of exhibitors and a truly global line-up, it continues to serve as the definitive meeting point for the international art community in South Asia, and we cannot wait to welcome everyone to Delhi next February.”

The event features some of South Asia’s most important contemporary galleries alongside established international names, showcasing rare masterpieces and cutting-edge contemporary works from India and beyond, some drawing from South Asia’s traditional heritage.

Top Indian contemporary galleries exhibiting include Vadehra Art Gallery, Nature Morte, GALLERYSKE, PHOTOINK, Gallery Espace, Shrine Empire, LATITUDE 28, Exhibit 320, Blueprint12, Anant Art, Akar Prakar, Art Alive Gallery, Art Heritage (all New Delhi), Chemould Prescott Road, Jhaveri Contemporary, Chatterjee & Lal, Project 88, Gallery Maskara, Galerie ISA, Sakshi Gallery, Chemould CoLab (all Mumbai), Experimenter (Kolkata / Mumbai), Emami Art, Gallery Art Exposure (both Kolkata), VHC | Vida Heydari Contemporary (Pune), Art Houz, Apparao Galleries, Gallery Veda (all Chennai), Archer Art Gallery, 079 | Stories Art Gallery, Iram Art (all Ahmedabad), and Dhi Contemporary, SRISHTI ART, Kalakriti Art Gallery (all Hyderabad). Alongside these are modern presentations, including DAG (New Delhi / Mumbai / New York), Crayon Art Gallery, Dhoomimal Gallery, Chawla Art Gallery and Kumar Gallery (all New Delhi), and Ashvita’s (Chennai). There are three new Indian participants: Cultivate Art, Lakeeren Contemporary, and Subcontinent (all Mumbai).

The fair features leading international galleries, including returning participants David Zwirner (New York/Los Angeles/London/Paris/Hong Kong), Galleria Continua (San Gimignano/Beijing/Les Moulins/Habana/Roma/São Paulo/Paris/Dubai), neugerriemschneider (Berlin), Carpenters Workshop Gallery (London/Paris/New York/Los Angeles), 1x1 Art Gallery (Dubai), Aicon, Aicon Contemporary (both New York), Saskia Fernando Gallery (Colombo), and Grosvenor Gallery (London). There are seven new international exhibitors: Whitestone Gallery (Tokyo/Singapore/Beijing/Taipei/Seoul/Hong Kong/Karuizawa), Rajiv Menon Contemporary (Los Angeles), DMINTI (New York), 193 Gallery (Paris), LAMB (London), Gowen Contemporary (Geneva) and Danfe Arts (Kathmandu).

This year’s Focus section presents a series of compelling solo artist showcases, each exploring the diverse vocabularies of contemporary art in South Asia and beyond. The line-up includes Bharti Kher, whose powerful sculptural practice bridges myth, body, and materiality; Jayasri Burman, known for her vibrant reinterpretations of mythological and feminine iconographies; BR Shailesh, whose kinetic and conceptual sculptures reflect on labour, movement, and the absurd; and Ravinder Reddy, celebrated for his monumental sculptures that blend classical forms with pop-inflected colour and scale.

Also featured are Girjesh Kumar Singh, who works with found materials, including broken bricks, clay and cement, to evoke the tension between fragility and permanence; Thandiwe Muriu, the Nairobi-based photographer whose striking portraits reclaim African identity through pattern, fabric, and form; and Khadim Ali, whose intricate tapestries reinterpret mythic narratives to comment on displacement and the contemporary politics of belonging.

Returning for a third year, the Design section presents an expanded showcase of leading and emerging design practices redefining the language of contemporary design in India. The section also features a special institutional collaboration between the French Institute’s residency programme and the Mumbai-based design gallery Æquō, inviting French designer Marie Gastini to explore a cross-cultural dialogue between traditional Indian textile techniques and contemporary scenography.

The Institutions section has been newly designed to sit adjacent to the three main halls, bringing exclusive attention to the leading museums, foundations, and cultural organisations from India and across the world; this section features specially commissioned projects that expand the dialogue between art, design, education, and philanthropy. Leading Indian institutions presenting at the fair include the Museum of Art & Photography (Bengaluru), Sabyasachi Art Foundation (Kolkata), MASH, Serendipity Arts, The Gujral Foundation (all New Delhi) and Birla Academy of Art & Culture (Kolkata).

The Platform section continues to spotlight South Asia’s living artistic traditions and craft-based practices, bringing together artists and collectives reinterpreting inherited practices with contemporary language. It features Gondwana Art Project, which evokes the ecological and cosmic worlds of the Gond, Baiga, and Bhil communities through paintings; the Delhi Crafts Council’s reimagining of Bastar metalwork in collaboration with traditional artisans; Gallery Ragini’s wooden sculptures from the village of Thammampatti in the interiors of Tamil Nadu; Porgai Artisans’ Association; Ojas Art; and Inherited Arts Forum.

The Fair’s major outdoor projects and collaborations include site-specific works by artist Kulpreet Singh, commissioned and presented by Kiran Nadar Museum of Art. Serendipity Arts brings The Charpai Project, conceptualised by Ayush Kasliwal, in a new format with a digital intervention by AI artist Goji. Other projects include Paresh Maity and Deepak Kumar’s large-scale sculptural installations supported by Art Alive Gallery and Exhibit 320 respectively.