India art fair

India Art Fair, previously known as India Art Summit, is an annual Indian modern and contemporary art fair held in New Delhi, India. The fair includes paintings, sculptures, photography, mixed media, prints, drawings and video art. The first three editions of the fair were organized at Pragati Maidan, one of India's largest and oldest exhibitions grounds. Starting from the 4th edition, the venue was shifted to NSIC grounds, Okhla. First held in 2008, it is India's largest art fair. The art fair includes several pavilions of exhibits by galleries and solo projects by several artists. It also has an art education series with guided walks conducted by curators and students of art history. Simultaneously, there is a speakers' forum with panel of Indian and international experts from the art domain to discuss issues pertaining to the art in the region. It focuses on key issues related with the art production, art market and its reception in India.

The first fair targeted over 6000 visitors with 34 exhibiting galleries at the fair, and over 550 contemporary and modern artworks. The fair rapidly gained popularity, and the first three fairs had a total 146,000 visitors, making it among the world's most popular art fairs.

India Art Fair is the biggest fair of modern and contemporary Indian art in the world. Its first three editions attracted over 146,000 visitors and its fourth edition held in 2012 canvassed 91 exhibitors from 20 countries. Over the years the fair has mainly showcased Indian modernists (including Bombay Progressive Artists' Group), Indian diaspora artists such as Anish Kapoor, contemporary Indian artists, international artists and art from the subcontinent.

Following in the tradition of international art fairs and other global platforms for art exhibition and sale, Neha Kirpal, Founder and Director of India Art Fair realised the need for a similar platform in India to respond to the global interest in Indian art. This led to the first ever India Art Summit (IAS) in 2008. It was patronised by prominent Indian artists like Anjolie Ela Menon, S H Raza, Krishen Khanna and Keshav Malik. Since then it has taken place every year with the exception of 2010. Neha Kirpal, the current owner of the India Art Fair divested 49 percent of its stake in early 2011 to two stakeholders, Sandy Angus and Will Ramsay, co-founders of the Hong Kong Art Fair, to create a larger network. In 2009 the highlight of the fair was a display of Pablo Picasso's works, exhibited by Beck & Eggeling, a German gallery. The same year Lisson Gallery brought diaspora artist Anish Kapoor's sculptures to India for the first time at the art fair.

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