An art fair that has several gallery booths and thousands of works on display, can be overwhelming for anyone. And layering that with a missing context of creative practices makes it even more daunting. At the recently concluded India Art Fair’s twelfth edition, amongst other collaborative initiatives, STIR curated a special walkthrough in the honour of Paola Navone, a globally celebrated architect and designer from Italy. She was accompanied by distinguished creative professionals from India across various disciplines. The walk was led by Hugo Weihe and Rahul Kumar.

Weihe, the foremost expert in Indian and Asian art, was the CEO of Saffronart and International Director of Asian Art at Christie’s. And Kumar, Consulting Editor – Art with STIR, is a Fulbright Scholar and a Charles Wallace fellow. While Weihe focussed on significant works from the Progressive Artist Group and Modern Indian genre, Kumar selected distinct works of younger contemporary practitioners. With a treasure-trove of anecdotes and insight, Weihe spoke about the nuances of inspiration and techniques used by some of the most celebrated Indian masters. He explained how MF Husain developed the unique style of bold lines and the significance of Raja Ravi Verma’s contributions with his use of mass-produced prints.

Kumar, on the other hand, enthusiastically described the works of contemporary artists, ranging from Olafur Eliasson to upcoming artists from the Indian subcontinent, such as Jignesh Panchal and Youdhisthir Maharjan, both of whom employ distinct media and their own respective styles to create engaging works.