Most Visited Booth: Will Nepal work the magic again at IAF?
Kathmandu
It is not easy to be a part of something wonderful. One always has to overcome challenges to achieve something. Likewise, it was a challenge for Nepal Art Council (NAC) to select seven artists — Birendra Pratap Singh, Asha Dangol, Bidhata KC, Sheelasha Rajbhandari, Hit Man Gurung, Samundra Man Shrestha and Manish Harijan to participate in the India Art Fair (IAF) 2016 held at NSIC grounds, Okhla Industrial Area, New Delhi from January 28-31, 2016.
Nepal is participating in the IAF 2017 and the year 2016 was the first time Nepal made her presence felt at the eighth edition of IAF. Talking about the action behind the scenes, art historian/curator Dr Dina Bangdel explained, “Though it seems like it is only the second time being a part of IAF, our preparations have been going on for a long time. We wanted to understand what it takes to do this (be a part of the fair) and we had to convince our patrons about why we should participate in it. Then there are technical aspects such as logistics which we had to understand before participating. It just looks like two years but it has been four years for us to reach this space.”
Dr Bangdel added, “Before taking our artists to IAF, we awarded travel grants to four artists in 2015 to understand IAF and its perspective. Moreover, being at IAF is an opportunity for the artists to network.”
Elaborating on reasons not being able to be at earlier editions of IAF, Sagar SJB Rana, Vice President of NAC elaborated, “Firstly, IAF looks for quality of the institution or gallery representing a country. There should be a good curatorial team that can present artworks, and to book the booth is expensive. It costs Rs 7 lakhs to just rent the booth for four days plus there is additional cost for lighting, logistics, et cetera. Our focus is to present the art of Nepal, commercial success is secondary. But commercial success is important and we need support from the government and patrons alike.”
The artists who received the travel grant were Dangol, Sanjeev Maharjan, Gurung and KC. About the selection of the artists Dr Bangdel said, “In the selection of artists for 2016 we gave importance to diversity in terms of work, career and ethnicity. As a result we have artists from different generations and whose works are different from each other.”
Sharing his experience at the IAF in 2015 Maharjan said, “It was my first time in a commercial art fair. I got to observe the happenings closely which was inspiring. It was like an open museum and I was able to see works of renowned artists in reality.”
For Rajbhandari, who travelled on her own in 2015 and got selected to showcase in IAF 2016, “Paying a visit to the fair, a question raised in me — why isn’t there any exhibit representing Nepal? It made me sad as there were works from many countries. I felt the need of the presence of Nepal. And India is so near to Nepal in terms of distance.” And in 2016 Nepal was represented and received a large number of visitors earning the title of the ‘most visited booth’. Giving credit to the powerful works of selected artists Dr Bangdel shared, “In 2016 we were highlighted due to the powerful works of the artists. There were visitors who were surprised to see Nepali artists’ strong work capable of competing on the international level.”
At the IAF, the artists must be represented by a gallery or institution to get selected for the fair. Sharing her experience at IAF 2016 Rajbhandari added, “It was a very good experience as we were represented by NAC, Nepal’s oldest non-profit organisation working in the field of art. I realised the need of support from the organisation as being affiliated with it helped the artist to get the exposure. We got the chance to network with other artists and were able to start a dialogue about the kind of art being produced in Nepal.”
Another artist KC, who showcased her paintings in 2016 expressed, “I got to learn a lot and participating in the fair boosted my confidence. I am proud that we were appreciated.”
The ninth edition of India Art Fair, an annual Indian modern and contemporary art fair and South Asia’s most awaited fair, is scheduled from February 2-5 at the NSIC grounds, Okhla Industrial Area, New Delhi, India.
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