This isn’t just another art fair. When the Delhi Contemporary Art Week (DCAW) first started in 2017, it came together as a way to show the art of now, by identifying fresh talent in an age-agnostic way.
“A lot of people don’t position [newer] artists very well — they end up selling [them] for interiors and to architects, and don’t really work on their careers,” explains Bhavna Kakar, founder-director of Latitude 28, one of the initiators of the DCAW. “I had an all-young roster, and wanted to work hard to present them in the best biennales and art fairs. But in large expositions, they obviously get sidelined,” she says.
It is but natural. The modern masters, from M.F. Husain to S.H. Raza, have been evergreen in their appeal and value for collectors, even world over. In 2015, for example, Christie’s sold Raza’s Tapovan for $4.45 million. It was the highest price for a work in the category of South Asian modern and contemporary.
Things are changing however, notes Kakar. In their first year, only about a couple hundred visitors, “mostly clients”, had visited the DCAW, which started with only three participating galleries. Today, the expected footfall stands at about 5,000 people for the entire week, and the number of participating galleries — incidentally all women-led — has grown to seven in total.
Nature Morte, Gallery Espace, Latitude 28, Blueprint 12, Shrine Empire, Exhibit 320, and Vadehra Art Gallery are all a part of DCAW 2019, and participated in the previous edition in 2018 as well. Together, they’ve brought 50 artists, from various South Asian countries, including Mehreen Murtaza from Pakistan, Zimbiri from Bhutan, Tayeba Begum Lipi from Bangladesh, and Gihan Karunaratne from Sri Lanka, among various others.
“The idea is to showcase contemporary art — truly and simply, art of the time. This has nothing to do with the age of the artists. It is the concept, the subject, and the application of the subject that makes a piece of art contemporary,” Kakar says.
There has been a gradual but definitive change in how contemporary art is looked at, and sought out by collectors, she says. “There are young collectors now, even as young as 19, who understand that the modern masters might fetch them more in the future, but they see value in works that resonate more immediately with them, which address the political too,” she adds.
Collectors with no prior family history in dealing with art, are also helping expand the appeal of contemporary work. “People in the 25-30 age bracket are also earning well. And this generation isn’t going the route of getting a job, buying a car, and then a house. Older generations would think of acquiring art only after all of this is checked,” she notes, adding that now it is also “cool” for this demographic, to acquire art.
On till 2 p.m. on Saturday, 7th September; Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road