India’s Most Affordable Art Fair Opens in Delhi This November

Daily timings: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. (12-17 November)

Venue: Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

Initiated 16 years ago by CIMA, the Art Mela returns with its core mission to democratise art. It brings high-quality works by modern masters and dynamic emerging artists into homes at accessible price points.

On show are works by Arpita Singh, Ganesh Pyne, Paramjit Singh, Jogen Chowdhury, Ramananda Bandyopadhyay, Paresh Maity, Lalu Prasad Shaw and Jayasri Burman, among others. Alongside them are emerging artists selected through the CIMA Art Awards, which consider more than 2,000 young artists from across India each year. Traditional practitioners from Bihar, Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha complete the show.

The Art Mela draws its distinction from the strength of its selection. At its foundation are the CIMA Art Awards, an established platform for discovering and nurturing emerging talent across India. Over five editions, the Awards have identified approximately 200 finalists per edition, creating a pool of nearly 1,000 artists whose work has been rigorously evaluated by some of the country’s foremost creative minds.

Its juries have included Arpita Singh, Jogen Chowdhury, G. Ravinder Reddy, R. M. Palaniappan, N. N. Rimzon and Prabhakar Kolte, alongside distinguished authors, cinematographers and cultural practitioners. The Art Mela draws its emerging talent from this carefully assessed pool, while traditional artists are selected for recognition through national, state and CIMA Awards. The result is a collection grounded in artistic merit, institutional rigour and the collective judgement of leading figures in Indian culture.

Since its inception, the Art Mela has also benefited from the support of established artists, whose participation enables exceptional works to be offered at accessible prices. This combination of curatorial credibility, artistic excellence and affordability lies at the heart of its purpose: to democratise art collecting in India.

As rising prices have increasingly placed significant works beyond the reach of discerning collectors, the Art Mela seeks to revive a longstanding Indian tradition of intellectual and cultural engagement through collecting. It offers a rare opportunity to acquire works by modern masters and exceptional emerging artists, backed by the authority of CIMA’s selection process and a commitment to making serious art accessible.

Find artworks by India’s modern masters at their most affordable.

Arpita Singh • Ganesh Pyne • Paramjit Singh • Jogen Chowdhury • Ramananda Bandyopadhyay • Paresh Maity • Lalu Prasad Shaw • Jayasri Burman