January 16, 2016
‘Fair season: Galleries prepare for Art Stage Singapore and India Art Fair 2015’
By C. A. Xuan Mai Ardia
Art Radar catches up with 6 international galleries participating in the first art fairs of the 2015 fair season in Asia.
The art fair season in Asia ushers in a new exciting year for contemporary art, starting with Art Stage Singapore and the India Art Fair taking place back-to-back during the last week of January 2015. Art Radar caught up with 6 galleries hailing from different corners of the world to find out about their participation in both fairs and what draws them to Asia
Harry Hutchison, Associate Director | Aicon Gallery, New York/London
This year you will be attending two back to back art fairs in Asia: both Art Stage Singapore and the India Art Fair in late January. Have you participated in either (or both) of the fairs before?
We have participated in the India Art Fair since its inception and this will be our second time at Art Stage Singapore.
What made you decide to re-apply this year?
As we are primarily a gallery that focuses on South Asian art, India is particularly important for us, hence our continued support of the IAF in Delhi. We exhibited at Art Stage in 2014 and were very impressed with the collectors they brought in, and look forward to taking part once again.
What are your expectations for this year’s fairs in Singapore and in India?
We have built up a client base in both the regions, so we are expecting good things to come from the fairs. But the aim of art fairs is to also meet new clients and for that to happen there is always an element of luck.
What will you be presenting in Singapore and in India?
Some of the artists will be represented at both fairs, but we will exhibit different canvases by these artists – M.F. Husain and Charles-Hossein Zenderoudi, for example. We are also bringing a number of site-specific pieces for each fair: Abdullah Syed has created a dome made from prayer caps for Singapore, and Adeela Suleman has been working on some magnificent steel sculptures for Delhi.
What would you say are the main differences between the two art fairs? What are the advantages of attending both?
Let’s be honest here – Singapore is a little more organised than India! The main difference is the logistics between the two fairs: Indian customs are notoriously fond of red tape. The advantage of attending both fairs is simply to keep expanding our collector base.
What differences in collectors, visitors, participating galleries and programmes do you expect at the two fairs?
Having done the India Art Fair from the beginning, we know what to expect. Singapore is more of an unknown, but has a number of prestigious international galleries and they are building Art Stage into something great. The collectors at all art fairs these days are knowledgeable and come prepared with the right questions to ask.
What are the challenges of preparing to attend two fairs back to back in two different locations?
As we send different works to each fair, it’s not really a problem. However, it is tiring for our staff, who hop from Singapore to Delhi having travelled all the way around the globe from New York.