Monday 2 May 2022 The Guardian •World^25
Hannah Ellis-Petersen
DelhiE
ven through the haze of
shimmering heat and
thick Delhi dust, the
mural was impossible
to miss. Pinks, blues,
greens and yellows pop
off the wall to form a utopian scene
of equality, and splashed across
the middle is emblazoned a slogan
designed to challenge India’s male-
dominated society. “The future is
femme,” it declared.
The artwork stood at the
entrance to the India art fair, a
showcase for the country’s artists
and galleries, held in Delhi over
the weekend after a two-year
hiatus due to the pandemic. Its
presence was signifi cant. Aravani
art collective, the artists behind
the work, have never showcased
in a major gallery, nor do they see
themselves as a part of the money-
driven art market.
Aravani are India’s only trans
art collective: about 40 people- mainly women but some men
- who paint murals and artworks
in public spaces. Metro stations,
schools, universities, fl yovers and
carparks have been transformed
by their vibrant scenes of
inclusion and gender fl uidity. The
murals have brought visibility
and empowerment to the trans
community, who are still largely
shunned and stigmatised in India.
“In this mural we wanted to
celebrate the intersectionality and
inclusivity that has always existed
within the trans community but is
rarely visible in our society,” said
Poornima Sukumar, who founded
the collective in 2016.
The decision to take part in the
fair was not entirely comfortable ,
said Sukumar, but one she hoped
would help shift perceptions and
give a platform to the collective and
the trans community at large.
“It’s important in our work to
challenge that perception that
everyone in the trans community
is the same,” she said. “Yes, many
have run away from home because
of the pressures and have ended
up doing begging or sex work
because that was the only viable
source of money, but within those
experiences there are so many
individual journeys.”
For Mayuri Pujari , part of the
collective since 2017, the visibility
is empowering. “People see the
trans community as professionals
making art, not just begging on the
roads,” she said.Among the new generation of
young artists being showcased
at this year’s fair, many push
boundaries around sexuality,
gender and queer stories. In
a specially commissioned
performance piece for example,
Gurjeet Singh , a young Sikh artist
from a village on the border with
Pakistan, delicately questions and
inverts traditional gender roles in
families and the home.
For Jaya Asokan , director of the
fair, the “diversity and inclusion”
widening India’s art landscape,
along with growing international
interest in the work, meant the
exhibition was taking place at “a
turning point for Indian and south
Asia art. A lot of our artists have had
regional appeal for a while but the
narrative is shifting and now they
are in demand internationally.”
Commercially, things have never
looked so good for Indian modern
art. Over the past two years there
have been at least three record-
setting sales of modern Indian art,including Amrita Sher-Gil ’s 1938
painting In the Ladies’ Enclosure
for $5.14m (£4.08m) , the second
highest amount ever paid for a
modern Indian artwork.
“I haven’t seen a market as
strong as this one since 2006,
which lasted for a few years before
the fi nancial crisis,” said Dinesh
Vazirani , the chief executive of
Indian art auction house Saff ronart.
He credit s the boom to factors
including lockdowns giving people
a desire for beautiful objects at
home and growing income among
Indians in pharmaceuticals and
tech, with many wanting to invest
in “aspirational” art.
“We are seeing a whole new
type of collector, young people
in their 30s and 40s, entering the
Indian market with a completely
new mindset,” said Vazirani. “Art
now has a societal standing and
there’s almost a social pressure to
buy art and buy the best. So people
who were entering the market at
$100,000 are now willing to go up
to half a million. ”
The market shifts are not solely
for modern art. For the fi rst time,
the fair has showcas ed rare folk
art, some 100 years old, illustrating
changing perceptions towards
older indigenous art. Among works
on show are bronze mukhalingam
sculptures, representations of the
Hindu god Shiva , never seen in
public before.
“Our folk culture has been
much more popular overseas in
the last four decades than it has
on the Indian domestic market,”
said Amit Jain, curator of the folk
art booths. “I t’s amazing to see
India’s full history brought into this
contemporary space. ”
The fair will also address the
darker side of the Indian art market,
particularly for antiquities. At the
Museum of Confi scated Antiquities
in Purana Quila , an old fort , the
objects have been returned to
India after being stolen then sold to
wealthy collectors or displayed in
leading galleries worldwide.
“India is one of the biggest
victims of illicit traffi cking of
antiquities, it’s a black market that’s
as big as drugs and ammunitions
and we still have a lot of looting
going on,” said Anica Mann , the
curator. “ It’s about time we talked
about ethical collecting.”A portrait
of change
India’s art
fair is back
- and it’s
pushing
boundaries
▲ The Aravani art collective’s mural
in Delhi and, right, a trans woman
works on a project in Mumbai
PHOTOGRAPHS: INDIA ART FAIR, GETTY IMAGES‘People see the trans
community as
professionals making
art, not just begging’Mayuri Pujari
Aravani art collective