Inlaks @ IAF 2019
The Foundation was very generously invited by the India Art Fair (IAF) to display the artworks of our Fine Art Award recipients and share the vast array of opportunities we offer.
Curated by juror Mortimer Chatterjee, the exhibition showcased 22 past and recent Fine Art Awardees. The exhibition was on view not only at our booth but also in the Forum and the screen in the Food Court.
On February 2nd, IAF hosted our annual Fine Art Award Ceremony where artist and Inlaks alumna Manisha Parekh introduced the practice of the 2019 awardees, Arshi Irshad Ahmadzai, Divyesh Undaviya, Sarmistha Bose and Pranay Dutta, and IAF fair director Jagdip Jagpal presented them with their award.
IAF proved to be a wonderful platform via which the Foundation was able to share the incredible practices that Foundation supported over the past 15 years with the Fine Art Award.
Below we share with you Mortimer’s curatorial note.
Curatorial Note:
The sheer diversity of India’s contemporary art scene in 2018 can befuddle and confuse the uninitiated. Partly this can be attributed to the wildly different approaches to art education practiced across the nation. For the last 15 years, Inlaks has embraced this eclecticism through celebrating the work of the most exciting art students and recent graduates to emerge from the country’s art and design schools. For India Art Fair 2019, we have brought together works by alumni of the award along with this year’s cohort. It is no exaggeration to say that some of the most important voices in contemporary Indian art are represented in this presentation. Here you will find examples of painting, photography, installation, and video.
Since the time that I began serving on the jury which selects awardees, I have seen certain trends visible. Sometimes trends emerge across the country simultaneously and sometimes they are specific to one institution or, even, one particular batch. Broad interests discernible over the last few years include a move to performance-based practices alongside an increasing use of moving image techniques.
To secure its future health, the Indian art ecosystem relies on great young artists to be welcomed into its ranks. The Inlaks Fine Art Award (FAA) can prove to be an important stepping stone in this process. The combination of a large cash award; a guaranteed residency; and the visibility the award affords is an extraordinary boost to a young artist’s career. There have been a number of exceptional projects and artworks that have emerged as a direct outcome of artists receiving the Inlaks FAA, including many of the works displayed as part of our presentation at the India Art Fair.
List of participating artists:
Amshu Chukki, Aqui Thami, Arshi Irshad Ahmadzai, Diptej Vernekar, Divyesh Undaviya, Himanshu S, Khursheed Ahmad, Madhu Das, Moumita Das, Neha Thakar, Prajakta Potnis, Pranay Dutta, Priyank Gothwal, Priyanka Govil, Rohini Devasher, Sahej Rahal, Sakshi Gupta, Sanket Jadia, Sarmistha Bose, Sashikant Thavudoz, Shreya Shukla, Tahireh Lal
