How international IS INDIAN ART
Indin gallerieshave begun making forays into the global Scene, but more needs to be done

I had the great fortune of at­tendingoneofthemostim­portant international an fairs in the world called the 'Basel An Fair' in June this year. It's ahnost impossible to describe the atmosphere of such a large show. Even before I landed in Switzerland, I felt the excitement and the buzz because many of my fellow air passengers were also attend­ing.
I can tell you thatI was over­whelmed and somewhat be­wildered when I entered the fair. There were galleries from all over the world partidpating 'and you could see a range of artists from the most junior all the way up to Picasso. Every imaginable medium was ex­hibited: pedormingans, paint­ings, sculptures, drawings, and video an.
It was refreshing to see the large number of drawings and srulptures that were exhibited, showing a re-emergence of these media. Andall of it under oae roof. with buyers and deal­ers milling about all busy mak­ing investments.
A laIge Indian art fraternity of gallerisls, dealexs and major collectors was in attendance. Nature Mone Gallery was par­ticipating in the show for the first time. Works by Justin Po­Danary and Subodh Gupta, were creatinga lot of interest in fndian art.
Subodh Gupta was also rep­resented by his Swiss gallery. It was hearteDing to know that the project commissioned by the Swiss gallery was sold for 800,000 euros to a German collector.
Since then. the question has arisen - how interna­tional is Indian art? How do we reach this level? With all the talk of globalisation and of India emerging as an economic power, how can we make our an international? Indian gal­leries have begun making for­ays into the international scene, but more needs to be done. To begin with, we should have a more organised ex­change of major artists with the major museums in the West.
 This will require corporate patronage because of the huge sums of money involved in es­tablishing such programmes.
               Along with taking our an to the world at large, we need to showcase more and morc for­eign artists in India.
               In China. for example, the major galleries are showing Chinese an as well as an from all countries, and collectors havestaIted collecting interna­tional art.
              Here, in India, collectors arc only looking at Inman an. This is natural and the trend will change once people are aware of the value of We stem an. All the more reason todedare that an art fair is the call of the day!

(The author owns GalleryEspace in New Delhi)