Capital in artistic reverie

Where there is faith, there are flowers. I have seen them at weddings and funerals, in temples, churches, dargahs... MANU PAREKH, 85-year-old artist

- Dhamini Ratnam and Aheli Das

NEW DELHI: The India Art Fair's 16th edition, which opened to the public this week, has brought together 120 exhibitors, including 78 galleries, and international art institutions in its largest edition yet.

The design section, which debuted last year, includes an exhibition of emerging designers, like the Nolwa studio from Hyderabad that employs Badri work on functional design, and features 11 others like Gunjan Gupta and Vikram Goyal.

Modern and contemporary Indian artists, from Atul Dodiya to Sudarshan Shetty and Subodh Gupta, and international names like Anish Kapoor and Julio Le Parc, also populate the booths.

HT scours the fair for some of the less known but remarkable works that should not be missed.

Kanchana Chitra RamayanaOn display at the Museum of Art and Photography (MAP) booth is a digital flipbook of a version of the Kanchana Chitra Ramayana manuscript, which allows the viewer to see the intricate illustrations on individual pages.

Commissioned by the royal court of Benares, artists from different schools converged to work on Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas between 1796 and 1814. The manuscript, which has 548 illustrated paintings, is also called the Golden Illustrated Ramayana, because of the extensive use of gold paint in its folios.

Jain ChhodsNearly a hundred years ago, Jain symbols merged with artisanal embroidery handiwork of zardozi and kalabutan on pieces of textile that would form the backdrop of a Jain shrine. Such works, often commissioned by the faithful to be gifted to living sants, or donated to temples, were called chhods or puthias.

The embroidery depicted themes like the wheel of law, eight auspicious signs, the 14 dreams of mother Trishala, and pilgrimage sites. What emerged from the integration of faith and craft was nothing short of spectacular artefact.On display at the Sarita Handa Archives booth are 35 ancient Jain chhods, all painstakingly restored.