‘Art Mumbai’: Art Market Race Heats Up at Mahalaxmi Racecourse!

‘Art Mumbai’ – A new Art Expo brought together 53 art galleries from India and abroad, showcasing a finely curated array of South Asian Art, with nearly 2000 art works of around 300 artists for three days at Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi racecourse. An art Expo of this scale is an interesting development as the Art market scenario starts showing an upward trend in Post Covid era. This review presents glimpses of the art genres, the artists and the event on the whole.   

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On Sunday, 19^th November, I had the opportunity to visit ‘Art Mumbai’, a first of its kind Art Expo at Mahalaxmi Racecourse. ‘Art Mumbai’ is a novel venture co-founded by Minal and Dinesh Vazirani of Saffronart, Nakul Dev Chawla, Founder and CEO of Global Art Hub and Conor Macklin, Director of Grosvenor Gallery, London.

An average Mumbaikar would know the Mahalaxmi Racecourse for the horse races. Many would reminisce the iconic Bollywood movie scene from 1975 blockbuster ‘Deewar’ wherein two suited men stop by for a shoeshine before they gallop towards the racecourse. However, as a new era of art market is being created in the city, Mahalaxmi racecourse sported artistic horses by the modern master M F Hussain and contemporary artist Valay Shende, for three days in the ‘Art Mumbai’ art fair during 16-19^th November, 2023.

When it comes to Art, – may it be painting, sculpture, or installation art – art lovers in Mumbai quickly recall the ‘Dark horse’ popularly known as the ‘Kala Ghoda’ and the annual ‘Kala Ghoda Arts Festival’ (KGAF) that happens at around Kala Ghoda area. Also, Colaba and Fort areas in South Mumbai are well known for the art galleries there which make it a go-to art destination for any art lover, whether local or a visitor.

Amidst such strong mental associations of established art brands and icons, and deep rooted images associated with art amongst the art community, the ‘Art Mumbai’ art fair has attempted to break the mental frame and has tried to create a novel niche.

The Aim

Art Mumbai has been started with the aim to promote art accessibility and cultivate a sense of community, offering a common platform for art patrons, collectors, potential buyers, art enthusiasts, professionals from the industry and the wider public, to experience the offerings of the ever-evolving art world.

The Challenges

There have been challenges in doing so, such as the proximity with the festive season, and the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament fever as well as a new location that has not been associated with art previously. Just a few days ago, the much advertised ‘The Haat of Art’ (THOA) Art Fair seemed to have received a less than expected footfall as it coincided the Diwali week. Whereas, the third and final day of ‘Art Mumbai’ coincided the Cricket World Cup final match day, making it challenging to attract art lovers. Moreover, amidst the existing Art Fairs in the country, establishing a new art event of such scale is in itself a challenge. The apt location for a high end Art Expo such as this had to be Mumbai, but the challenge of finding a good location where art community would visit was also a challenge.

Nonetheless, ‘Art Mumbai’ seems to have done well in their debut year. Time only can tell how it gets received by the art community in the coming years.

The Scale and Coverage

‘Art Mumbai’ showcased a finely curated array of select South Asian art. There were nearly 2,000 artworks by about 300 artists presented by 53 participating art galleries from Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi, and prominent international galleries from USA and the Middle East arranged to provide an immersive art experience. (See photo of Gallery Guide Map and list of participants) Unlike existing popular Art Fairs in India, the booths here were represented by leading art galleries, not by individual artists albeit many artists were present at the booths of their respective galleries and were available for interaction with art lovers.

Saffronart and Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) had exclusive spacious pavilions. Special attractions were, a collection of lotus shaped furniture set designed by M F Husain presented by Saffronart and a special exhibition by KNMA paying tribute to late artist Vivan Sundaram.

The coverage in terms of art genres and artists was quite comprehensive – including iconic indigenous historical pieces art, antique art, modern art and contemporary art presented in well designed and spacious booths with ample walk through spaces. There were two separate pavilions each dedicated to modern art and contemporary art. a finely designed outdoor sculpture garden provided an opportunity to enjoy beautiful sculptures in open air.

The following photos would provide an idea of the diversity of art genres and artists.

The Immersive Experience

‘Art Mumbai’ provided is an enriching immersive experience, in terms of visual space, the presentation and the richness of collection. The booths were substantially spacious with few works presented within each of it, thus giving justice to the art work and the viewer.

The visual display of art works was complemented with engaging on-site speaker series, which included 12 workshops, panel discussions and masterclasses as well as musical performances. Moreover, themed walks of the fair were organized over every couple of hours.

The immersive experience was enhanced by audio visual displays running short video presentations. It was further made interesting by dedicated areas where any visitor could engage in painting, using the art stationery materials provided. Both children and adults were seen enjoying a splash of colour in these activity areas.

Positioning and Pricing

The market positioning adopted for the fair is based on target audience of high end buyer / collector even though it has been claimed that this is an attempt to recognize that art is for everyone. Film maker and the Cultural Ambassador of Art Mumbai, Karan Johar in his introduction message says that “… I like the self-portrait the best… as it happens to be…priceless!”. With other art fairs and annual events such as India Art Fair, the KGAF and The Haat of Art, it will be interesting to see how Art Mumbai carves a specific niche for itself in the coming years.

Art Mumbai charged VIP guests INR 6,000/- for season ticket on Friday 16^th November and on Saturday and Sunday for the public at large INR 1,500/- per day for adults, and Rs 599/- for students, senior citizens and differently-abled.

Just to give a perspective, the entry ticket to the debut art exhibition ‘Sangam – Confluence’ at the NMACC at BKC during this June was INR 200/- per head, for viewing the art exhibition by 10 artists (5 Indian, 5 International).

While the internationally hyped ‘Van Gogh 360°’ show which happened in Mumbai in February, charged INR 1000/- per head for adults. I hope to see an affordable ticket pricing for students and general public in the Art Mumbai event in the upcoming years.

For me, this visit was an engaging opportunity to enjoy masterpieces of modern and contemporary art and to interact with artists and art lovers.

Though I have tried to present an unbiased impression about the Art Mumbai experience as an artist and art lover, I have used a few parameters which I am familiar with by virtue of being from Business Management Education field, just to provide a structure to it.

Hope that it helps the readers to relate and compare with their experience in multiple ways, while enjoying the visuals.

For further reference of interested readers, I have provided the complete list of participant art galleries with their locations.

As the Art Market in India is showing upward trend in the post – covid era, it would certainly be interesting to see how scaled up initiatives like Art Mumbai shape the scenario in near future.

— Vineel Bhurke

List of Participant Art Galleries and Museums in ‘Art Mumbai’

(Sequence as per the Gallery Guide Map)

Vadehra art gallery (New Delhi)

Galerie ISA (Mumbai)

Nature Morte (Delhi)

Experimenter (Kolkata, Mumbai)

Tarq (Mumbai)

Chatterjee & Lal (Mumbai)

Volte Art Projects (Dubai)

Jhaveri Contemporary (Mumbai)

Shrine Empire (New Delhi)

Blueprint 12 (Delhi)

Latitude 28 (New Delhi)

Aicon Contemporary (New York)

Chemould Prescott Road (Mumbai)

GALLERY SKE ((Bengaluru) & Photoink (New Delhi)

Gallery Espace (New Delhi)

1 X 1Art Gallery (Dubai)

The Guild (Mumbai)

Apparao Galleries (Chennai)

Threshold Art Gallery (Delhi)

Sakshi Gallery (Mumbai)

Art Alive Gallery (New Delhi)

Art Explore (New Delhi)

Exhibit 320 (Delhi)

Anant Art Gallery (Noida)

Emami Art (Kolkata)

Art & Soul (Mumbai)

Space Studio Baroda (Baroda)

Gallery Five Art Advisory (Gurugram)

Ojas Art (Delhi)

Gallery XXL (Mumbai)

Gallery G (Bengaluru)

MAG Contemporary (Delhi)

Gallery Sumukha (Bengaluru)

Ashvita’s (Chennai)

Natesan’s Antiqarts (Mumbai)

Gallery Art Exposure (Kolkata)

Sanchit Art (New Delhi)

Aicon New York (New York)

Black Cube

Palette Art Gallery (New Delhi)

Chawla Art Gallery (New Delhi)

Sarjan Art Gallery (Vadodara)

DAG (Delhi)

Akara Modern (Mumbai)

Grosvenor Gallery (London)

Akar Prakar (New Delhi)

Crayon Art Gallery (New Delhi)

Dhoomimal Gallery (New Delhi)

Progressive Art Gallery (Delhi)

Klran Nader Museum of Art (New Delhi)

Saffronart Foundation (Mumbai)

Art Magnum (New Delhi)