THE UPCOMING 2nd Art Summit 2009, to be held at New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan between August 19 and August 22, is a really important art event to look forward to. After a successful Art Fair of Indian Contemporary Art in 2008, where 34 galleries from India and abroad took part, the Art Summit’s second edition is being held on a grander scale and promises to be a world-class art event.

At the inaugural summit last year, organisers claimed to have sold 50 per cent of the artworks that were exhibited. This year’s summit has many more participants and promises to be a real treat for art lovers. It will feature many more galleries – 54 at the last count with 17 galleries from abroad, including some of the most prominent international galleries from Europe, Asia and the United States.

The attempt will be to showcase a really diverse range of art -- including painting, sculpture, contemporary photography, installations and digital art -- created by both established and greenhorns. Three special art projects have been meticulously planned with the intent of highlighting the diversity.‘The Sculpture Park’, a 600 sq m open-air park at the entrance, open to all visitors, is where selected large scale sculptures will be displayed.

Then there is ‘The Purple Wall Project’, curated and conceptualised by reputed art critic Gayatri Sinha. This offers ‘special installations of the best of modern and contemporary art’. Art connoisseurs will be interested in the experimental use of techniques, materials and mediums, used by different artists in their innovative works.

The third project is the ‘Video Lounge’ – showcasing Video Art by contemporary Indian and international artists. This is where video art, which is fast gaining popularity in India and around the world, can be seen and understood. The works that will be screened will help highlight the growth of this medium and its growing influence on the international art scenario.

Another important section is the International Speaker’s Forum, scheduled to be held between August 20-22. Topical discussions and seminars will take place by a panel of eminent speakers from museums and galleries from different parts of the world.

According to the organisers of the Art Summit, the Speaker’s Forum is already being acknowledged as a ‘highly reputed platform’ for discussions on issues pertinent to the growth and well being of art. This year, the forum will focus on current theories and research on globalisation and its effect on art as well as bring about a discussion about the redefining of the art scenario as we know it today, including the rise of Asia and Asian art, and its influences on the international art world. After the first summit, I’d made two requests to the summit directors. The first was to organise an exhibition for upcoming artists and bright students from art schools. My second request was that their paintings should be available at an affordable price to enable India’s emerging and affluent middle class, to take home and find a place for original artworks instead of prints. This will not only add to the sale of original art, but posterity will salute this very important section of Indians, for paving the way.

Jhupu Adhikari is the winner of numerous advertising design awards and a painter of repute