In conversation with Rajendra
Iconic Art Fair - India Art Festival
What are your thoughts on being conferred with the honour of Iconic Art Fair? Did this honour motivate you further?
Any type of honour or recognition always boosts the spirit and motivate to push harder. We are in the age of high competition; while working and negotiating with the challenges in the trade fair industry, it is always beneficial to have facts, figures and numbers handy with you. This honour will definitely motivate our entire team.
How do you think your sector can benefit and leverage with such a recognition?
Well, there are very few honours that go to way of 'trade fair' industry; within that 'Art Fair' receiving 'recognition' again is a rare phenomenon. India Art Festival is putting art fairs in Mumbai and New Delhi since 2011 and we are expanding our mission of 'art promotion' to Bengaluru from April 2020. This recognition will instil confidence in the minds of our exhibitors and improve the sentiments which are bit dampen due to mild recession we are experiencing.
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What has been the key to your success? Your success mantra?
There is no short cut to success. You always need to be on your toes and keep motivated your team to overcome day to day encounters. We are into visual art fairs; our clientele is mostly HNI and corporates who look for art to make their living and office spaces inspiring. In the last ten year, more than 150 art galleries and 3000 artists have showcased in the 'India Art Festival'. The survival of the art festival for 10 years, and moving from Mumbai to New Delhi and now to Bengaluru itself tells our success story.
Despite the stiff competition, how have you managed to stay ahead of the rest?
The idea is to bring in new art forms, new artists who are teeming with the unbridled form of imagination and present innovative art choices to the city art buyers every year. Our mission is to democratise 'art-viewing and buying' by bringing together rural and urban artists with the art galleries & art buyer to create a dialogue that will facilitate them to build a network amongst them.
Besides your own dedication and hard work, is there anyone else that you would like to give credit or thank for your success?
The India Art Festival is being supported by our supporting partners and media partners for the last 10 years. Woman's Era, Minimax Ads Pvt Ltd, CNBC Awaaz, Verve, Business Standard and many others have supported us in our formative years in the past. We have been grateful to mid-day also for all this encouragement.
What were the challenges that your business had to overcome and what were the lessons learnt?
Art flourishes in the period of a stable economy. When the economy suffers, we are the first to suffer and when the economy recovers we are the last to recover because 'art' is not essential but a passion investment. Keeping ourselves sustained in the testing times is the only way to overcome the difficulties. The biggest lesson learnt in all these years is just to bear the bad phase of 'business cycle' and enjoy the good times!
Do you feel the need to constantly upgrade to keep up with changing trends and technologies to satisfy your customers tastes?
Yes, we need to maintain pace with the changing times to reach out to our clients. Keeping yourself relevant is the most important aspect of the very existence and following the changes in trends and technology is imperative to keep going.
How do you see your establishment/company grow in the coming years?
Well, in the last 10 years, 'India Art Festival' editions expanded from Mumbai to New Delhi and now we are putting our debut edition at India's Silicon Valley Bengaluru in April 2020. Every five years, we take our mission to the new city and we hope to continue the growth and pace of our expansion.
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