If the entire world is shrinking into cyber space, why should art be left behind? India Art Collective, the country’s first virtual art fair, now makes it possible for anyone passionate about art to walk through the country’s best galleries exhibiting the finest artwork, all with a click of the mouse.
This Burgundy art initiative also aims at addressing genuine concerns of art collectors such as price transparency and product assurance. In fact, the website has been designed in a manner that categorises the collection under three broad heads, based on the pricing — the Signature series, the Collector series and the Value series.
Despite the limitations of an online medium, the creators have taken extra care to not just duplicate the real life experience of the art exhibition, but take it a notch further. Each artwork on the website has a standard exhibition wall height of eight feet, wherein viewers can zoom up to 500 per cent to ensure maximum clarity. Also, unlike in real exhibitions, the artworks here will be displayed sans any thematic limitations; for instance, if someone is searching for a certain painting by Raza, then they can view all his creations alongside.
So far, 40 art galleries have signed up, including the Tao Art Gallery, Chemould Prescott Road, SKE, Akar Prakar, Palette and The Guild, to name a few. Kalpana Shah, owner of Tao Art Gallery, says, “When I first heard the idea, my reaction was that this was bound to be successful. There is no limitation of space and it works wonderfully for both veterans and young upcoming artists struggling to catch people’s attention. A virtual booth costs one tenth of a real one, making it economically viable as well.”
The online art fair will also help bring the world beyond the metros into the limelight. “We need to realise that there is art be-yond Mumbai and Delhi,” says Sunil Gautam, founder of the India Art Summit and member of the advisory board for India Art Collective. He adds, “This initiative will be a game changer.”
However, in a country like India, where consumers still go by the orthodox touch-and-feel maxim, will such an online initiative take a while to gather steam? Says Sapna Kar, co-founder and IAC fair director, “That’s the reason why we have maintained a highly selective choice of galleries. An online art fair can never replicate the energy of a real one; this initiative is not a replacement, but an addition.”
The online fair will begin from November 19, 10 am and end on Saturday November 26 at 7 pm on www.indiaartcollective.com [1].
Links:
[1] http://www.indiaartcollective.com