Just recently, Defence Colony briefly transformed into a walkable cultural corridor as galleries across the neighbourhood opened their doors simultaneously for ‘Takeover’, a curated gallery hop organised as part of the upcoming India Art Fair’s city-wide programme. Held on Sunday, January 18, from 5 pm onwards, the free, public walk brought together over ten exhibitions and a wide cross-section of visitors for an immersive, three-hour engagement with contemporary art.
While ‘Takeover’ is a first-of-its-kind collaboration across Defence Colony in this particular format, it is not the first time the India Art Fair (IAF) has stepped beyond its fairgrounds to activate the city. Over the years, the fair has organised neighbourhood tours, gallery walks and guided art experiences across Delhi, recognising that contemporary art ecosystems thrive not only within the temporality of the fair but through sustained engagement with galleries, artists and audiences year-round.
At its core, the Defence Colony Gallery Hop is designed as a guided tour through one of Delhi’s most active and closely knit gallery clusters. Led by India Art Fair’s Art Tour Guides—currently in training under curator and educator Shaleen Wadhwana—the initiative encourages visitors to experience exhibitions sequentially and in conversation with one another. Conducted in both English and Hindi, the hop allowed participants to move through multiple galleries as a group, creating a shared rhythm of looking, listening and discussion.
For the fair, this extension beyond the NSIC Grounds reinforces an essential idea: contemporary art is experienced not only during fair week, but through ongoing relationships with the city’s cultural infrastructure.
The role of the art tour guide
In a district as dense and fast-moving as Defence Colony, the role of an art tour guide becomes especially crucial. With galleries located just minutes apart and exhibitions overlapping in time, viewers can easily feel overwhelmed. The guides function as cultural translators—offering curatorial context, unpacking references and facilitating conversations that might otherwise remain fragmented.
This year’s cohort reflects remarkable diversity, with guides from Punjab, Haryana, Delhi NCR, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bengal and Palestine. Collectively, they bring linguistic abilities in English, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Bengali, Kutchi, Konkani, Urdu, Arabic and Turkish, alongside lived experiences that expand how art is interpreted and discussed.
Slow, open, conversational
Importantly, the guiding approach is not didactic. The intention is not to prescribe meaning but to slow down the act of looking. Visitors are encouraged to ask questions, share observations and arrive at interpretations collaboratively. The experience remains fluid and responsive, shaped as much by the artworks as by the curiosities of those walking together.
In this sense, ‘Takeover’ operates less as a lecture and more as a moving conversation unfolding across the neighbourhood.
The gallery hop is deliberately open to all. First-time gallery-goers walk alongside students, collectors, artists, writers and those simply curious about contemporary art. No prior knowledge is required. By positioning galleries as welcoming, conversational spaces rather than intimidating white cubes, the initiative seeks to lower barriers to entry and cultivate audiences who feel confident returning long after the fair has concluded.
The exhibitions encountered during ‘Takeover’ span a wide range of contemporary practices—painting, sculpture, photography, installation, video and conceptual work—bringing together emerging and established artists alike. What binds these diverse presentations is a shared curatorial thread: What Lingers?
The route began at Latitude 28 with ‘Sut re Saah’, exploring how history and memory shape textile patterns in phulkari embroidery. At GallerieSKE, Somnath Bhatt’s superimposition of organic forms onto inorganic surfaces commented on the invisibilisation of labour. Gallery XXL offered a vibrant counterpoint, presenting works by artists including Sadhna Prasad, Aiko, Nabi and Anikesa.
Shared Sunday commitment
At Pristine Contemporary, Raghavendra Lal Rai’s photographic practice unfolded as a quiet commentary on wildlife conservation. Vadehra Art Gallery | Modern followed with a showcase of A. Ramachandran’s enduring legacy through colour and form. Akar Prakar’s Ganesh Haloi exhibition bore witness to constant reinvention rooted in memory, land and the joy of making.
Shrine Empire featured Ranjana Thapalyal’s exploration of naturalism and environment, resonating with Vadehra Contemporary, where Ashfika Rahman’s practice drew from oral histories of riverlands connecting India and Bangladesh. Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke marked P. R. Satheesh’s first exhibition in Delhi, while Method Delhi concluded the hop with Kunel Gaur’s reflections on heritage through obsolete technologies.
That all these galleries opened together on a Sunday signals a shared commitment to public engagement and collective visibility. It temporarily transformed Defence Colony into a cultural commons—encouraging slower looking, chance encounters and sustained dialogue. It also allowed Art Tour Guides travelling from outside Delhi to engage directly with local audiences over an art-focused weekend.
Looking ahead to the fair
For the India Art Fair, ‘Takeover’ underscores the strength of Delhi’s gallery community and the power of collaboration. Visitors can next experience the Art Tour Guides from February 6 to 8 at the fair, where they will lead thematic tours in short and extended formats.
The 17th edition of the India Art Fair will take place from February 5 to 8 at the NSIC Grounds, bringing together 135 exhibitors—the largest edition to date—and marking ten years of partnership with BMW, underscoring a decade-long commitment to modern and contemporary art in South Asia.