India Art Fair 2026 presents its most ambitious and wide-ranging programme to date, bringing together leading artists, curators, museum directors, designers, and cultural thinkers from India and around the world. Across talks, performances, commissions, collaborations, and learning initiatives, the fair foregrounds urgent conversations around ecology, craft, technology, inclusivity, and the evolving conditions that make art possible today.
At the heart of the fair is the Talks Programme, supported by JSW and curated by independent researcher and curator Shaleen Wadhwana. Titled What Makes Art Happen? — Rising to Challenge, the programme examines the social, political, and institutional frameworks that shape artistic practice in South Asia and globally.
Among its highlights is the annual BMW Artist Talk, alongside a major panel on arts institutions featuring international museum leaders Dr. Tristram Hunt, Director of the Victoria & Albert Museum; Nora Lawrence, Executive Director of Storm King Art Center; Dr. Alexandra Munroe, Director of Curatorial Affairs at Guggenheim Abu Dhabi; and Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, Managing Trustee and Director of the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, supported by Saat Saath Arts Foundation.
The JSW Talk brings together Sangita Jindal, President of Art India and Chairperson of the JSW Foundation; Tarini Jindal Handa, Founder of æquō and Creative Director of Hampi Art Labs; and Prof. Alberto Cavalli, Executive Director of the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship, Geneva, in a conversation on patronage, craft, and cultural legacy.
Ground-level perspectives form a key strand of the programme, with a dedicated conversation featuring Dr. Sushree Sangita Mohanty, Founder and Director of Ekkathaa Welfare Foundation and UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab Expert; Prof. Laxmi Sabar, practitioner of Saura painting and traditional healing; Prof. Laxman Sabar of the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences; and independent curator and researcher Himanshu Mahato.
Further panel discussions bring together leading figures from regional and global art ecosystems, including artists Dayanita Singh, Atul Dodiya, Bhasha Chakrabarti, Rajyashri Goody, and Ibrahim Mahama, alongside curators and art professionals Gabi Ngcobo, Director of Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam, and Thiago de Paula Souza, Co-curator of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo, both supported by the Kochi Biennale Foundation. Additional speakers include Mario D’Souza, Aindrea Emelife (supported by The British Council), Sunitha Kumar Emmart, Prateek and Priyanka Raja, and Natasha Ginwala.
Reflecting India Art Fair’s expanding focus on collectible design, multidisciplinary media agency Border & Fall curates the inaugural OPEN Design Talks, bringing together Indian and international practitioners to explore contemporary design practices across South Asia and beyond.
The fair also introduces new social and networking spaces, with two new lounges joining the VIP Lounge and BMW Collectors’ Lounge. Birla Estates hosts panel discussions and private gatherings at the Patrons’ Lounge, while Nuvama Private presents design-led talks focused on regional practices and cross-cultural exchange.
India Art Fair 2026 further advances its commitment to research, craft, and international exchange through an expanded slate of collaborations, awards, and residency programmes. The inaugural Swali Craft Prize, presented by Karishma Swali and the Chanakya Foundation in partnership with India Art Fair, is awarded to Natasha Preenja (Princess Pea) for her practice bridging design, craft, and participatory storytelling.
The Curatorial Research Grant 2025–26, jointly presented by Saat Saath Arts and India Art Fair, is awarded to Habda Rashid, Senior Curator at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, while the Prameya Art Foundation’s DISCOVER 09 Award for 2026 goes to Sidhant Kumar, whose work draws on oral history to address ecological precarity. Continuing its collaboration with the 1-54 Fair, the Young Collectors’ Programme presents Monção, a special project by Strangers House Gallery.
The fair welcomes its first international artist-in-residence from Sri Lanka, Dumiduni Illangasinghe, in partnership with KALĀ, alongside residents Arun B, Farhin Afza, and Shreni Sanghvi, with support from SoulTree.
Performance remains a vital component of the fair, with the 2026 Performance Art Programme curated by Nikhil Chopra and HH Art Spaces, and supported by Soho House. Exploring live, sonic, and movement-based practices, the programme culminates in Breakfast in a Blizzard, an open-air kitchen-island installation that transforms acts of nourishment into moments of collective imagination.
Marking ten years of partnership, India Art Fair and BMW India unveil a bold new iteration of The Future Is Born of Art Commission, reimagined as a large-scale facade intervention. Conceived around the theme Crafting in Continuum, the 2026 commission is awarded to Afrah Shafiq, whose work foregrounds embroidery, textile traditions, and women’s lived narratives, enhanced through an interactive AR layer.
Outdoor art takes centre stage with major commissions and installations responding to ecology, gender, technology, and material experimentation. Highlights include a new commission by Kulpreet Singh, presented by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art; The Charpai Project by Serendipity Arts; a monumental sculpture by Paresh Maity; a large-scale installation by Deepak Kumar; and FOREST II by Raki Nikahetiya, presented by Max Estates.
Inclusivity and access remain central to the fair’s mission. With the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art returning as Learning Partner, India Art Fair 2026 expands its learning and accessibility initiatives through workshops, guided tours, and the Inclusion Lab, supported by Access For ALL. Guided tours run hourly from 12 pm to 5 pm and are offered bilingually in English and Hindi, with select sessions in Indian Sign Language (ISL).
