Neha Kirpal: Making art accessible to every Indian

Neha Kirpal is the founder and Director of India Art Fair. The Art Fair was launched in 2008 with the aim of making art accessible to every Indian. The last 5 editions of the fair saw over 400,000 attendees participating from India and across the globe. India Art Fair, held annually in Delhi, has grown to be the single largest confluence of artists, curators, gallerists and collectors in India. Stats show that India Art Fair is also the second largest attended art fair in the world. In the difficult world of arts, to her credit, Neha managed to accomplish all of this in a short span of 6 years.Neha is candid when she says, “I don’t know much about the art world. When I was a young girl, I used to feel intimidated walking to art galleries. India Art Fair is created for people like me. Our aim is to take art into every layperson’s life. I feel I am that layperson. Art entered my life, and it changed me. I want everyone to have that access and experience too.”

Let us find out what makes this young lady from Delhi one of the most well-known faces in the Indian art scene –

Being the outsider

I was born and brought up in Delhi. I went to Sardar Patel School. I studied Political Science at Lady Shriram College. The one thing very profound during childhood was my inclination towards arts and cultural activities. I was a volunteer with SPICMACY and organized a lot of college festivals, conferences and seminars. I wish there was a logic or reason behind this interest, but there was none. Nobody from my family had any background in arts. Except for maybe my grandfather who used to paint, very privately though. After college, I worked in marketing, PR, and event management for 4 years in India. I decided to study at the University of Arts in England.

England was where I fully realized the potential of arts in the society. There were thousands of arts galleries and fairs in England, and I wondered why we didn’t have something like this back home.

Oh the ignorance of youth

I was intrigued by why large scale art fairs were not held in India yet, I thought the idea was worth a go, and I believe it was also the ignorance of youth that I ventured into something that I had absolutely no clue about. When I started, I didn’t know a single artist. I didn’t have any money. I was scared. As an outsider, it was not easy to participate in the art world in the beginning. It was a difficult sector to pick. There were many naysayers. People thought I was crazy. Many said that it is impossible to do something like this in India and achieve international standards. I just had my idea and the conviction to make it work. I stuck with my plan, through all these interactions I also realized the importance of doing something world-class here. In fact, after the first edition of the art fair, people really saw the potential of what this could grow into, and many people started rallying behind us. I think people also wanted to believe the story of a young woman entrepreneur who is trying to do something valuable in all earnesty. Within a year, many art galleries have signed up with us, some key artists have backed us, and academic institutes like JNU joined hands with us.Looking back, 400,000 people attended the art fair so far, we are now the second largest attended art fair in the world. Art fairs have been going in the world for about 42 years, we have been around for 6 in India, and what we have been able to achieve in terms of mileage and penetration so far has been great. People have been supportive by inviting their friends and collectors from around the world. Simply the fact that, the entire art world blocks off their calendars and comes to Delhi during the fair is a big commitment in itself.

The India Art Fair objectives

The art fair was started with two objectives –

One was to take the Indian art scene international and expose the whole world to the magic of Indian art and provide Indian artists and art with a platform that is unparalleled. And in that we have succeeded. Today, we are the largest showcase of Indian art in the world.The second objective is to create a platform for international artists to come and showcase their art in India. It is a two way sort of channel and I think that the second objective will take time. We have got a long way to go and make a mark among the key art communities around the world. We are working hard everyday to achieve this.

We work closely with museums, galleries, artists and students. Efforts are underway at every level to make art publicly accessible. When I was a young girl I would feel very frightened walking into an art gallery. I would like art to be something that is embracing, accessible and easily available on the streets, at public projects and everywhere. The whole effort is to break the existing barriers and make art accessible for the public. I feel I am that public, who would like to be taught and who would like to have an access to the arts community. The India Art Fair is meant for every layperson to come in, roam around, take some photographs, find a way to connect with art, and just being in that environment is so simulating. More and more people should be able to see art and engage with it at some level. You do not have to buy it, but just have art in your life. Art has come into my life and it has been beautiful. I would like to bring it to more and more people’s lives. The fact that we have 400,000 people in the last five years is really a testimony to that and we want to keep growing and we also want to keep internationalizing things. We have partnerships with art publications around the world who write about the art fair, we had 91 booths from 24 countries, and we have key speakers from all over the world. The kind of attention we are able to draw towards India and create this kind of footprint with a small budget is a big driver for me; to be able to make something out of almost nothing at all.

I believe in the potential of India and my own potential

When I started off, I wanted to create value. I didn’t bother about the financial model. If you are able to create value, business will follow. I believe in that approach. Find a niche and do something really high quality in that niche. The entire PR and exhibition industry in India is not up to the mark as far as international standards are concerned. That is why we do every aspect of the project in house. We don’t hire an events company. We don’t hire a PR agency. I found it always important to not use India as an excuse, of course we have many issues around infrastructure and funds, but I find that it is possible to overcome challenges and do something international from India.I also feel that it is a great time for Indian women to become entrepreneurs.

I believe in the potential of India, and in my own potential. From my own journey so far, I broke two myths – that India can’t host an art fair of international standards, and someone like me without any background and connections can make this happen. It is very important to believe in your own context and your own country. I am a big patriot and I believe that India can produce a lot more than what it is right now. I would bet on my country and bet on myself and make the most of the opportunity.

The 2014 India Art Fair is scheduled to be held in Delhi between 30th January to 2nd February. Do take sometime to attend the fair, and participate in the world that Neha helped create http://www.indiaartfair.in/