Yahoo Lifestyle Your guide to enjoying the 2025 India Art Fair in style
From 6–9 February, the India Art Fair will return to Delhi for its 16th year as the foremost place to discover the richest tapestry of modern and contemporary South Asian art. Ranging from sculpture, installation and photography to new media and more, key artists to look out for – inside the fair – include Huma Bhabha (David Zwirner), Dayanita Singh (Nature Morte), Benitha Perciyal (Gallery Veda), Ketaki Sheth (Photoink), and Nalani Malani (Vadehra Art Gallery), as well as Yamini Nayar (Jhaveri Contemporary) with a new constructed assemblage photograph.
Here is our guide of what not to miss during the three-day event.
India Art Fair: New work and projects
On the facade of the four fair tents will be a monumental new 468-foot work by the 34-year-old Delhi art-star, Ayesha Singh. Titled Skewed Histories and Site Lines, the monochromatic work challenges dominant ‘perspectives’ in myriad ways.
Working within a structure of vanishing points, Singh disrupts these lines by overlaying fragmented, flipped and spliced buildings, all either patronised, designed or overseen by five female patrons and architects – Queen Udayamati, Bega Begum, Begum Samru, Urmila Eulie Chowdhury and Revathi Kamath – highlighting their key contribution to the legacy of Indian architecture.
Beyond this, other Outdoor Art Projects include Claire Fontaine, Foreigners Everywhere / Stranieri Ovunque, a site-specific LED installation inspired by their celebrated series featuring Indian languages, as well as IAF Artist-in-Residence, Umesh S. whose installation features farming tools and Bhojpuri poetry.
The must-see exhibitions you don't want to miss
Running parallel to the fair are major exhibitions, including one by the Kolkata-born, New York-based Sagarika Sundaram. Polyphony at Nature Morte features her exuberantly coloured, organically shaped hand-made textiles that, although constructed from raw wool, transform into monumental sculptures.
Stringy and vein-like – each textile feels like an intuitively grown living entity. The artist explains: “I never really know what the final composition is going to look like until layers are open and interact with each other.”
Shilpa Gupta's Solo Exhibition will open at the Centre for Contemporary Art Bikaner House, Vadehra Art Gallery on 2 February. This major exhibition will feature motion flap-boards, moving sculptures and sound installations by the leading Indian artist whose deep interest in kinetic art, control and resilience as a way to explore borders (both physical and conceptual) and the censorship of speech, speaks pertinently to the social and political context of today.
Don’t miss Home is a Mythical Place: Riya Premchand Chandwani, curated by DelhiHouses, which delves into the threads of memory, displacement and identity, shaped by her family’s history of forced migration during the Partition of 1947. The Complexity of Democracy, curated by Anita Dube, also explores similar themes.
For those wanting to explore India’s rich artistic history, head down to the National Gallery of Modern Art to see In the Seeds of Time, which features a presentation of work by Amrita Sher-Gil. Born in 1913, Sher-Gil is hailed for her paintings of Indian life that she drenches in a range of textures, using colours that range from more muted to fluorescent. The NGMA is home to some of her best and wide-ranging works. Her prolific output saw her work across Europe, India and Pakistan. Sadly, her career was short-lived after she was overcome with an illness and died at the age of 28.
Also on view at the NGMA, as well as a larger presentation at Palette Gallery, are a selection of works from Anupam Sud’s The Journey a Full Circle. Sud uses printmaking as a means to tell richly layered and deep stories. Her prints are often dark, with shadows and hints of bright colour, and full of ambiguity, featuring one or multiple figures wearing masks or walking between thresholds that can speak to any number of narratives. As she has said: “Art is an open road with footpaths that lead away to keep viewers interested in what the work has to say to them.”
Where to stay: The Imperial
Combine modern luxury and history, and stay at Delhi’s most iconic hotel: The Imperial. It is home to one of the world’s largest art collections of more than 5,500 objects – each capturing the soul of India’s rich heritage – encompassing paintings, lithographs, artefacts and photographs, stemming from as early as the 17th and 18th centuries.
Turn every corner in the nearly 90-year-old hotel and a new work will delight you; it's a panorama of vibrant Indian culture and art, a place “where stories are lived”. Each floor has a dedicated theme – from lush landscapes to Mughal monuments and historic events – celebrating India’s heritage. A favourite discovery is the female poet and artist Emily Eden, famed for her recollections of her travels in India, whose works populate the 3rd floor’s 'People and Princesses' theme.
While the art takes precedence, be sure to visit the hotel's relaxing spa, as well as the restaurants, offering everything from Indo-European to Italian cuisine. Don't miss The Spice Route, which offers a modern South East Asian menu in some of the most luxurious rooms imaginable.
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