Only artists, please

Eliminating galleries as the middlemen is what the ongoing Mumbai Art Fair (MAF) has done in its first edition itself. This initiative by the India Art Festival (IAF) is hosting 260 upcoming, mid-career artists from India and even Nepal and Qattar, who are displaying mainly murals, nudes, portraits, figurative, photo, digital pieces, sculptures and landscapes. Preferring to go only by his first name, Rajendra, director of IAF, says the idea was born when, since last year, artists have been asking him to rustle up an economically viable option to promote themselves. "Art galleries and dealers take up 70 per cent of booth space, and leave only 30 per cent for solo artists at IAF. Even the stall costs Rs 35k onwards, but at MAF, we've kept it at Rs 10k, a paltry sum compared to the Jehangir Art Gallery space of Rs 50k with a five-year waiting period."

Also laudable are Rajendra's efforts to showcase art graduates and self-taught artists. As the vice president of the Bombay Art Society (BAS), Rajendra has added a collection of artworks donated by the likes of Charan Sharma, Seema Kohli, Jatin Das, Jogen Chowdhury to the BAS.

Showing 260 artists works better at least in theory, instead hosting art galleries that at the most showcases 15-16 artists per booth. "We don't know if we'd break even, as galleries know how to promote themselves and pull patrons to visit. But let's see."