The new wave of restrictions put in place by the Indian government to combat the Omicron strain of COVID-19 has caused the postponement of the country’s high profile art fair. Planned to open in the first week of February, the India Art Fair is now scheduled to run from 28 April to 1 May.
Case numbers had plateaued in New Delhi to just seven-day averages in double digits over the past six months. Since mid-December however they have been on the rise again, with John Hopkins University reporting more than 2,000 daily new cases in the city. The country as a whole has a rolling seven-day average of just under 23,000 new cases.
Accordingly the Indian government has put new ‘yellow alert’ restrictions in place which sees cultural festivals, conferences and fairs, banned, and museums, galleries and non-essential shops operating at reduced capacity.
Seventy-five exhibitors are expected to take part in the fair, when it does open in the spring – that number slightly down from prepandemic levels.
