India Art Fair in the Offing

Photos: courtesy

The MCH Group, Angus Montgomery and the Founding Director Neha Kirpal of the India Art Fair recently announced that the MCH Group has acquired a co-ownership stake in the India Art Fair 2017 edition, to take place from February 2-5. India Art Fair is the first step in realising MCH Group's ambition to create a portfolio of leading regional art fairs, as it announced in March 2016.

India Art Fair, founded in 2008, is South Asia's leading platform for modern and contemporary art and a portal to the region's cultural landscape. Over the past decade this region has seen an outburst of cultural activities with the establishment of major new contemporary art initiatives such as the Kochi Muziris Biennale, the Karachi Biennale, the Colombo Art Biennale and the Dhaka Art Summit. 

In union with this, modern and contemporary Indian art has been increasingly profiled around the globe with major exhibits at prestigious cultural organisations including The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Met Breuer, Tate Modern and the Venice Art Biennale.

The dynamic growth of the South Asian art market at a global level, supported by a buoyant Indian economy, has seen the strength and significance of India Art Fair grow rapidly over the past few years. One of the best-attended fairs in the world in terms of footfall, India Art Fair has established itself as a pioneering platform that brings local, national, regional and global interest to South Asia.

Commenting on the partnership, Marco Fazzone, Managing Director of Design and Regional Art Fairs of the MCH Group, said, “We are happy to launch our strategic initiative with the India Art Fair, as our first regional partnership. It gives us a co-ownership position in the leading art platform for modern and contemporary Indian and international art in South Asia. We are looking forward to contributing to the further development of India Art Fair as a leading face-to-face and digital platform.”

Neha Kirpal, Founding Director of India Art Fair, commented, “We are delighted to have the MCH Group as an experienced international partner joining us in India. Their commitment to this region will help us develop the fair in the coming years.”

Sandy Angus, Chairman of Angus Montgomery, said, “Since we joined India Art Fair in 2011, we have seen significant growth in visitor numbers and sales, with the fair truly establishing itself as by far the most significant art fair in the region. With MCH Group's network and expertise we look forward to realising the full potential of this signature event”.

MCH Group, with its head office in Basel (Switzerland), is a leading international group of live-marketing companies with a comprehensive services network spanning the entire exhibition and event market. MCH Group organises and hosts around 90 exhibitions, including the globally leading Basel world show, and Art Basel in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong. Design and Regional Art Fairs is a new unit of MCH Group which is building a portfolio of leading regional art fairs, led by Marco Fazzone, Managing Director. 

Angus Montgomery is an independent exhibition and events company at the forefront of trade and consumer shows in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. They run over fifty events in over fifteen countries, and their events span the fields of art, photography and design, food, drink and hospitality. Their art fairs include Art Central (Hong Kong), India Art Fair (New Delhi), Photo San Francisco and Photo Shanghai.