a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step in the journey to create a landmark in the indian culturescape that first step was the times art fest taf held at ahmedabad in march 2020 the event organised by toiahmedabad was held days before covid changed the world irreversiblynow taf has metamorphosed into the art of india aoi one of the countrys largest exhibitions anchored in ahmedabad and themed on the evolution of indian art aoi is headlined by indian figures in the worlds art pantheon the tagore brothers nandalal bose m f husain f n souza and krishen khanna to name a fewwork by madhvi parekhthe original plan was to take aoi to delhi mumbai and bengaluru in february the last covid wave forced us to limit travel but we compensated by giving free rein to intellectual exploration the result is a stunning display at gandhinagars helipad exhibition centre one of the largest exhibition spaces in india with a display area of 12 lakh sq ftin 2020 we featured 50odd artworks across 1000 sq ft this time 75000 sq ft accommodates more than 400 paintings and sculptures but the quest goes beyond numbersjamini royin the 75th year of indian independence aoi curated by priya adhyaru presents the countrys art notables whose works are inspired by india itself it promises to be the largest platform of its kind the show has works by more than 250 artists including the top names of the country some of them came together to work specifically on the aoi theme noted art collectors and prominent galleries from across the country are partici pating too presenting the masterworks of legendary artiststill april 15 visitors will be able to get a sense of diverse influences styles forms practices and traditions in indian art the show opened on april 8 with an exclusive preview that lasted till april 10 the preview drew the most illustrious artworld personalities from across the country artists gallerists collectors and criticsthe panoply of artists at aoi includes painters muralists and sculptors we will soon release webisodes featuring the highlights of the show with glimpses of works art talk and the excitement induced by this unexampled endeavour