Gurugram. BMW Group India returns as the presenting partner of the 17th edition of India Art Fair from 5 – 8 February 2026 at the NSIC Exhibition Grounds in New Delhi, marking a decade of the brand’s enduring commitment to cultural engagements in India. India Art Fair is the leading platform showcasing modern and contemporary art from India and South Asia and convenes audiences to explore a record 135 exhibitors, including 94 commercial galleries, presented alongside major regional and international art institutions. The fair welcomes 26 new exhibitors, marking its broadest showcase yet, continuing its mission to foreground the most compelling practices and voices from South Asia alongside major contemporary international artists and collectible design, reaffirming its position as leading site for the discovery of art and culture in the region.

Mr. Hardeep Singh Brar, President and CEO, BMW Group India, said, “BMW Group India’s decade-long partnership with India Art Fair reflects our unwavering belief that culture, creativity, and innovation are inseparable pillars of progress. Through ‘The Future is Born of Art’ Commission and our presence at this vibrant platform, we celebrate the power of artistic expression to shape a sustainable and inclusive future. The BMW Concept Speedtop, showcased this year, symbolizes our commitment to pushing boundaries, where design, technology, and craftsmanship converge to inspire new horizons. Together with India Art Fair, we are proud to nurture a dynamic ecosystem where art and innovation fuel transformation, not just for the automotive world, but for society at large.”

‘The Future is Born of Art’ Commission: A Bold New Chapter
Marking ten years of creative partnership with India Art Fair and five years of the landmark ‘The Future is Born of Art’ Commission, BMW Group India continues to champion emerging Indian artists on the global stage. The 2026 Commission, themed ‘Crafting in Continuum’, is awarded to Afrah Shafiq for her immersive installation ‘A Giant Sampler’, displayed prominently across the fair’s façade for the first time.

Shafiq’s work reimagines progress as continuity, a harmonious coexistence of handcraft traditions, digital systems, and human touch. Drawing on embroidery motifs and textile practices linked to women’s histories, the installation integrates an interactive Augmented Reality (AR) experience, inviting visitors to engage with layered narratives of memory, movement, and transformation. The BMW wheel, rendered in cross-stitch, emerges as a contemporary emblem of precision, motion, and cyclical change, connecting the brand’s heritage with artistic innovation.

As winners of the prestigious ‘Future is Born of Art’ Commission, led by BMW and India Art Fair, Afrah Shafiq joins the ranks of India’s most promising artistic voices. Previous winners, Non-Linear (Dennis Peter) and Cursorama (Yash Chandak) 2025, Sashikanth Thavudoz (2024), Devika Sundar (2023) and Faiza Hasan (2022), have set the stage with visionary works exploring community, materiality and ecology.

Exclusive Showcase: BMW Concept Speedtop at the BMW Collectors Lounge

The BMW Concept Speedtop embodies BMW’s seamless fusion of art, design, and innovation, presenting a bold vision of craftsmanship and performance. Its striking shark-nose front, illuminated kidney grille, flowing central spline, and distinctive Touring profile create a powerful presence, enhanced by a dramatic roof gradient from Floating Sunstone Maroon to Floating Sundown Silver and bespoke two-tone wheels.

Inside, the precise craftsmanship from BMW’s Dingolfing plant defines a luxurious cabin with brogue style detailing, two-tone leather in Sundown Maroon and Moonstone White, and an ambient light beam inspired by the exterior spline. The leather finished trunk is thoughtfully divided for multi-day journeys.

A collaboration with Italian leather specialist Schedoni adds bespoke luggage and behind seat storage, underscoring the concept’s exclusivity. Powered by BMW’s most powerful V8, the Concept Speedtop combines dramatic design with exhilarating performance. Limited to just 70 units worldwide, it offers collectors a rare opportunity to own a true automotive masterpiece.

The Concept Speedtop reflects BMW Group’s commitment to cultural engagement and the convergence of art, technology, and future mobility.

About BMW Group India Cultural Commitment

The BMW Group has initiated and been engaged in hundreds of global cultural initiatives for over 50 years. From music to film, from architecture to design, contemporary art has played an essential role – via long-term institutional partnerships with major museums or partnering with the leading art fairs around the world, such as Art Basel and Frieze from Los Angeles, New York and Miami, to Seoul, Hong kong, Paris, and London.

Since its inception, BMW India has participated in leading cultural engagements across the country. In 2007, two BMW Art Cars embellished by world-renowned artists Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein were presented at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai. BMW Art Car by Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Sandro Chia and Cesar Manrique have been exclusively showcased at various editions of the India Art Fair.

Since its inception in 2012, BMW has partnered with Kochi-Muziris Biennale, the contemporary art exhibition, which brings international artists to India and creates a global platform for Indian artists. In 2012-13, the innovative BMW Guggenheim Lab came to India. Based at Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum and conducted at six different venues in Mumbai, the lab organised six weeks of free programmes with diverse audiences and communities addressing the challenges and conditions of the urban city.

In 2026, BMW Group India and India Art Fair celebrate ten years of partnership and five years of The Future is Born of Art Commission. A milestone that underscores their shared commitment to creativity, innovation and sustainability at the intersection of art, design and technology.

About India Art Fair |  Indiaartfair.in

India Art Fair is the leading platform to discover modern and contemporary art from South Asia. Established in 2008, India Art Fair is the region’s premier modern and contemporary art fair, providing a unique access point to its thriving cultural scene, drawing together galleries, artists, private foundations, arts charities, artist collectives, national institutions, cultural events and festivals. Launching in 2025, IAF EDI+IONS is a new initiative designed as a series of curated showcases across India, reaffirming the fair’s commitment to expanding its regional footprint to celebrate the best of art and culture from across South Asia. Rooted in local cultural contexts while connected to global networks, IAD EDI+IONS extends the fair’s annual curatorial vision beyond Delhi, offering intimate yet impactful experiences for collectors, patrons and institutions, while celebrating the best of South Asian art and design. India Art Fair is owned and operated by Angus Montgomery Arts (AMA), a division of Angus Montgomery Ltd.

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BMW Group India

Richa Sharma, Head of Press and Corporate Affairs

Cell: +91 9910022148; Tel: + 91 124 4566600; Email: Richa.Sharma@bmw.in

Satchit Gayakwad, Press and Corporate Affairs

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Kochi. Since its very first edition in 2012, BMW has been official partner of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB). For the sixth Kochi-Muziris Biennale, the Kochi Biennale Foundation is curated by Nikhil Chopra with HH Art Spaces featuring 66 artists projects from more than 25 countries. The biennale opened to public on 12 December 2025 and will last for a period of four months.

Mr. Hardeep Singh Brar, President & CEO, BMW Group India said, “The BMW Group India is proud to continue its partnership of the sixth edition of Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a platform that celebrates creativity, dialogue and new perspectives. Art has the power to inspire progressive thinking, and this partnership reflects our belief in innovation that moves both people and culture forward. The Biennale’s spirit of openness and exploration mirrors, BMWs philosophy of redefining possibility, and we are delighted to be a part of a movement that enriches India’s cultural landscape.”

The exhibition, the largest contemporary art biennale in South Asia and the first of its kind in India, unfolds across 29 venues in Fort Kochi, Mattancherry, Willingdon Islands and Ernakulam. It sits in conversation with a constellation of exhibitions, performances, and discursive programmes which are set in close dialogue with Kochi’s unique geographical, social and cultural ecology.

Embracing process as methodology, this edition places ‘freindship economies’ as the very scaffolding of the exhibition. The curatorial vision acknowledges bodies as a landscape of time, a vessel of labour, joy, and loss, and invites the visitors to think through ‘embodied histories of those that came before us and continue to live within us in the form of cells, stories and techniques.

BMW Group India Cultural Engagement
Since its inception, BMW India has participated in leading cultural engagements across the country. In 2007, two BMW Art Cars created by world renowned artists Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein were presented at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai. BMW Art Cars by Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Sandro Chia and Cesar Manrique have been exclusively showcased at various editions of the India Art Fair. “The Future is Born of Art” is a unique initiative by BMW India and India Art Fair which aims to propel emerging Indian artists and further BMW Group’s commitment to promote art, sustainability, and innovation. In 2012-13, the innovative BMW Guggenheim Lab came to India. Based at Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum and conducted at six different sites in Mumbai, the lab organised six weeks of free programme with diverse audience and communities addressing the challenges and conditions of the urban city.

Since 2012, BMW has partnered with the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, the contemporary art exhibition, which brings international artists to India and creates a global platform for Indian artists. This vital and dynamic partnership has been instrumental in shaping the Biennale into a global cultural landmark. BMW Group’s continued commitment, even in uncertain times, highlights the profound belief in the power of art and culture to unite and inspire.

About the Kochi-Muziris Biennale

Kochi-Muziris Biennale is India’s first ever biennial of international contemporary art and its story is unique to India’s current reality—its political, social and artistic landscape. It began as a government initiative, when the Department of Cultural Affairs of Government of Kerala approached two artists—Riyas Komu and Bose Krishnamachari—to help organize an international platform for art in India. The challenge was proportionate to the ambition of the project. A biennial had never gotten past the conceptual stage in India before. There was no existing infrastructure necessary for an exhibition of this scale—no spaces and no institutional support structures.

With the support of the government, private patrons, and local businesses the Biennale found the spaces and opened them up for art. The Indian art community has been growing rapidly and has been emerging onto the world stage, and the international arts community offered their support in sending art and artists to participate in Kochi. Artists became the spokespersons and activists for the biennale.

  About Nikhil Chopra

Nikhil Chopra’s artistic practice interweaves live art, drawing, photography, sculpture and installations. His performances, in large part improvised, dwell on identity and its construction, autobiography and authorship, the pose and

self-portraiture. Nikhil combines everyday life, memory and collective history; daily acts such as eating, resting, washing and dressing, in tandem with the act and discipline of making large scale drawings in situ become the process of making an artwork.

Nikhil’s works have been included in major exhibitions including Documenta 14, 12th Sharjah Biennale, 12th Havana Biennale; 2nd Kochi-Muziris Biennale and 53rd Venice Biennale amongst others. He has also shown works and performed at the Gropius Bau, Berlin; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester; New Art Exchange, Nottingham; , SFMOMA, San Francisco; Artsonje, Seoul; Museum of Contemporary Art, Yinchuan, China; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo, Norway; Indian Highway, Serpentine Gallery, London, UK; Carriageworks, Sydney; Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi.

Nikhil Chopra was born in Kolkata in 1974, and lives in Goa where he runs HH Art Spaces with partners. After studying at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Vadodara, India, the artist continued his studies in the United States in 2003 to return to India in 2005 with a Masters from Ohio State University.

About HH Art Spaces

HH Art Spaces, Goa, was founded in 2014 by Nikhil Chopra and Romain Loustau, both live art and performance artists. HH Art Spaces is a movement, and currently includes the shared vision, voices, rigors, and energies of a collective of artists and cultural practitioners. Key founding and partner members of the organization are: Madhavi Gore, Shivani Gupta, and Shaira Sequeira Shetty.HH Art Spaces fosters an ethos of collaborations, residencies and interdisciplinary exchanges within art and culture; and has worked with artists and organizations locally, regionally and internationally.

Over the years, HH Art Spaces has developed a rich archive of visual, sonic, installation, and live art and performance work, in South Asia. HH Art Spaces promotes artists and produces exhibitions and artist residencies, talks and workshops, in contemporary and traditional artistic practice-based research, bridging transdisciplinary practices through collaborations and partnerships. HH is a hub and a laboratory for artists and curators to investigate and explore new forms and approaches within arts and cultural practice.

If you have any queries, please contact:

  BMW Group India

Richa Sharma, Press and Corporate Affairs

Cell: +91 99100 22148; Email: Richa.Sharma@bmw.in

Satchit Gayakwad, Press and Corporate Affairs

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Gurugram. BMW Group India is the presenting partner of the latest edition of India Art Fair from 1 – 4 February 2024 at the NSIC Exhibition Grounds in New Delhi. India Art Fair is the leading platform for showcasing modern and contemporary art in India and South Asia. The fair has brought hundreds of artists from the region to the world’s attention over its many successful editions. 

Mr. Vikram Pawah, President, BMW Group India said, “BMW Group India is deeply committed to nurturing corporate citizenship and fostering intercultural dialogue, integral to our societal responsibilities. We are proud partners for the fair, as it celebrates 15 incredible years of establishing itself as the leading platform for discovering modern and contemporary art in India and South Asia. As the 'Presenting Partner' of the India Art Fair, we have been instrumental in promoting the growth and visibility of modern Indian art and artists. This year, BMW India is excited to unveil the third installment of the 'Future is Born of Art' commission. We invite art and automobile enthusiasts alike to join us in exploring new realms of creative expression at the India Art Fair.”

BMW Group India has supported the evolution and exposure of modern contemporary Indian art and artists since 2012. Through this year’s collaboration, BMW India will exhibit the first-ever fully electric BMW i7 sedan as part of third ‘The Future is Born of Art’ commission and host the BMW Art Talk on the theme ‘Through the Looking Glass’.

The first-ever BMW i7 is a true all-electric luxury sedan that clearly demonstrates how an exclusive driving experience can be combined with an unwavering commitment to sustainability. The i7 offers all-electric innovation, visionary design, and powerful driving dynamics so that you can make a striking impression everywhere you go. Built for the luminaries with next-level style and substance, it is undeniably alluring from the inside out.

‘The Future is Born of Art’ commission is an initiative by BMW India and India Art Fair which aims to propel emerging Indian artists and boost BMW Group’s commitment to promote art, sustainability and innovation. BMW India will showcase its third commission based on the theme ‘Forwardism’.

Sashikanth Thavudoz is the winner of the third edition of ‘The Future is Born of Art’ commission, following Faiza Hasan and Devika Sundar, the winners of the 2022 and 2023 commissions, respectively. Selected by the advisory panel comprising of HRH Radhikaraje Gaekwad - a distinguished patron and conservationist, Jaya Asokan – director, India Art Fair, Veeranganakumari Solanki, curator and Sameer Kulavoor, contemporary artist.

For his installation at the India Art Fair, titled ‘Symphony of Nature: The Harmonic Forest’, Thavudoz has combined materials and mediums from his past experiences and projects, including illuminated lights and wood blocks, into a multi-sensory and immersive experience. In-line with the theme ‘Forwardism,’ the installation is more than a concept. It is an ongoing journey of the artist emphasizing responsible creativity amidst change. It combines natural and manufactured materials that aims to highlight the fragility of this balance that we must all consider as we go into the future.

BMW Art Talk on the theme of ‘Through the Looking Glass’ will be hosted on 2 February 2024 at the India Art Fair. Three ground-breaking contemporary artists, Anita Dube, Barthélémy Toguo and Jitish Kallat share the inspiring stories of their creative journeys in a candid conversation with Prof. Dr. Thomas Girst, Global Head, BMW Group Cultural Engagement.

Both Dube and Kallat have been leading the Kochi-Muziris Biennale as artistic directors in 2018, and 2014, respectively. BMW is a committed long-term partner of the biennial since its inception in 2012. 

About BMW’s Cultural Commitment

For over 50 years now, the BMW Group has initiated and been engaged in hundreds of cultural co-operations worldwide. The focus of its long-term commitment is set on modern and contemporary art, classical music, jazz and sound, as well as architecture and design.

Along with commissioning iconic BMW Art Cars and co-initiatives, such as BMW Tate Live, the BMW Art Journey and the ‘Opera for All’ concerts in Berlin, Munich, Moscow and London, the company also partners with leading museums and art fairs as well as orchestras and opera houses around the world. The BMW Group guarantees absolute creative freedom, as this is just as essential for groundbreaking artistic work as it is for major innovations in a successful business.

Since its inception, BMW India has participated in leading cultural engagements across the country. In 2007, two BMW Art Cars embellished by world renowned artists Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein were presented at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai. BMW Art Car by Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Sandro Chia and Cesar Manrique have been exclusively showcased at various editions of the India Art Fair.

Since 2012, BMW has partnered with Kochi-Muziris Biennale, the contemporary art exhibition, which brings international artists to India and creates a global platform for Indian artists. In 2012-13, the innovative BMW Guggenheim Lab came to India. Based at Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum and conducted at six different venues in Mumbai, the lab organised six weeks of free programmes with diverse audiences and communities addressing the challenges and conditions of the urban city.

About India Art Fair

India Art Fair is the leading platform to discover Modern and Contemporary art from South Asia, offering a unique access point to the region’s thriving cultural scene.

Taking place annually in India’s capital, New Delhi, the fair reflects the city’s fast-developing local arts scene, while offering curated insights into the cultural landscapes of neighbouring countries. The fair’s programme - which draws together galleries and artists, private foundations and arts charities, artists’ collectives, national institutions, cultural events and festivals - enables international audiences to engage in innovative ways with the cultural history and development of the region.

The fair is committed to supporting arts education and professional development opportunities, recognising the crucial need to support the development of the local arts scene, and provide dedicated exhibition space to emerging galleries and arts organisations. The fair aims to run an extensive programme of events, including education initiatives, artist commissions and pop-up programmes, aiming to increase audiences for the arts within India.

India Art Fair is owned by Angus Montgomery Arts, a division of Angus Montgomery Ltd.

If you have any queries, please contact:

BMW Group India

Abhay Dange, Director, Press & Corporate Affairs

Cell: +91 9910481013; Tel: + 91 124 4566 600; Email: Abhay.Dange@bmw.in

Satchit Gayakwad, Press & Corporate Affairs

Cell: +91 9560725900; Tel: +91 124 4566 600; Email: Satchit.Gayakwad@bmw.in 

Internet: www.bmw.in

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