The ‘Virtual India Art Festival’ brings together 20 art galleries, 250 artists, 1000 artworks

Since its inception in 2010, the India Art Festival (IAF), a contemporary art fair has been the platform to exhibit art and ideas, showcasing the artworks of nearly 3000 artists from India and many other countries.  IAF, the only contemporary art fair in India hosting annual editions at New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru which was supposed to start this year, positions itself today as a successful art fair with a focus on both – art galleries and independent artists. The uninterrupted journey of 17 editions in the last ten years in three cities entered into a short sojourn this year during the coronavirus outbreak. The Bengaluru edition of the India Art Festival which was scheduled in April 2020 at Chitrkala Parishath art complex this year also got postponed. The covid-19 pandemic made us alter ways to continue with our contemporary life and compelled us to shift from the ‘conventional’ presentation of ‘visual art’ to digital platforms. Every year IAF hosts over 700+ artists and 50 art galleries from across India and other countries, showcasing 6000 works of art at New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. Now all this is simulated together in the digital platform ‘Virtual India Art Festival’, making it Asia’s largest, unified & seamless art fair ever. This, a new way of art viewing and buying conceived during the pandemic promises to engage with the visual art audiences globally. In this virtual avatar of the India Art Festival, patrons will get to see a total of 45 stalls, 20 art galleries, and 250 artists are exhibiting a total of 1000 artworks. The Virtual India Art Festival can be visited from 18 to 27 Dec 2020 at https://indiaartfest.in/

Rajendra, Founder of the India Art Festival and President, The Bombay Art Society shares, “Today, most of us in the self-quarantined state of mind, willingly or unwillingly use electronic devices, looking for ways to connect,  support each other, and share. The virtual India Art Festival, a specially designed online art fair is an effort to engage ‘visual art audiences’ with the artists who are trying to recover from past anxieties and future worries!  Virtual India art festival is our commitment as a cultural organizer to answer urgencies surrounding the lives of thousands of artists in India”.

The visitors – art enthusiasts, art buyers, and art connoisseurs – to the virtual India Art Festival will enjoy this stimulating fusion of contemporary art with virtual reality, creating an incredible experience of immersive booths in the art fair!  The hundreds of artworks exhibited through 40 stalls include inspiring original artworks, paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations, and more. The visitors can choose the artwork they like and can buy it online at the virtual India Art Festival.

Rajendra, Director, India Art Festival says “There have been many virtual art fairs taking across the world but with a complex navigation system that required hundreds of mouse clicks or mobile screen swipes to go through entire virtual art fair online. Further, the time-consuming registration process which involves visitor privacy issues has been widely debated. Considering that the art buyer, architects, interior designers, and art collectors who buy art or even artists, art writers, and  art enthusiasts are a part of a busy community, we at India Art Festival, have designed a very simple but elegant and engaging virtual art festival system of 2D rooms, 3D virtual galleries with a 360-degree view of stalls for every exhibiting artists and art galleries.”

He further adds “The visitor is provided simple options to view artworks with a zoom-in facility without a single click of the mouse!! The visitors can literally visit 45 stalls, 20 art galleries, and 1000 artworks of 250 artists with a zoom-in facility in just 45 clicks to enjoy 2D &  3D virtual stalls viewing!!  There is a facility in every booth where visitors can call or send a text message to participating artists and art galleries and even can pick up a digital copy of their catalogs from every stall”.

The participating art galleries in the Virtual Art fair includes – Aakriti Art Gallery & Gallery Nataraj, from Kolkata,  Art Nouveau, Galerie Splash & Uchaan from  Gurgaon, ,  ArtDesh Foundation, Greyscale, Rhythm Art, Studio3 Art Gallery, and The Bombay Art Society – all from Mumbai,  Easel Stories, Noida, Eminent Art Gallery,  Gallery Endless Thoughts, Sudha Art Gallery, Thakalis  Art Gallery, and The Lexicon art Gallery – all from New Delhi along with Galerie Sara Arakkal, Bangalore and  Gnani Arts,  Singapore, Kala Bhawan from Tripura, Studio Vriksha Chhaya from  Varanasi.

Ravikumar Kashi, a well-known artist from Bangalore says “ Art exhibitions going online has opened up a plethora of opportunities. The shows need not be restricted by the geographical limitations of place and can be seen by viewers from different parts of the globe. For people who hesitate to enter a Gallery or do not have time to spare time to make the journey this will be a convenient way to look at art. Hopefully, this will expand the viewer base for art exhibitions and at some point, they will start visiting galleries and museums. Though one will miss the physicality of the artwork in online shows there are advantages as well. I’m sure the virtual edition of the art festival will grow in this way and once the pandemic subsides both offline and online shows can be done together. Best wishes.”

Almost all master artists’ art displayed with mid-carrier, young and senior artists.

The Art lovers, patrons, and artists can attend the virtual art festival from the safety and comfort of their homes, studios, and galleries at  https://indiaartfest.in/