AS EVERYONE - WHO ISN'T A COMMITTED DESERT ISLAND DWELLER- WILL BY NOW BE aware, over the last two years, Bombay has witnessed the opening of a number of new art galleries. And when gallery-goers have not been celebrating at the launches of these new spaces, they have been attending events held in honour of the re-location of older galleries.

Installation view of Everywhere is war (and rumours of war) at Bodhi Art. Curated by Shaheen Merali at Bodhi Wadibunder & Bodhi Kala Ghoda. August to September 2008.

The buoyant state of affairs in the contemporary Indian art market is reflected in a flourishing private gallery scene. Public galleries, on the other hand, resolutely continue to display a lack of initiative.

Ideally, one would have liked to use a five-year time-frame to judge the quality of art shown in Bombay's galleries. However, the scene has changed so radically in the last couple of years that what was true five - or even three - years ago is no longer relevant. With the arrival of new galleries such as Project 88 (in April 2006), Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke (in February 2006), Bodhi Art (in April 2006), Bodhi Space (in December 2007), Chatterjee & Lal (in August 2007) and Gallery Maskara (in March 2008), the art scene has been altered for the better. Even existing galleries have had to adopt new strategies. Consequently, this overview will, for the most part, restrict itself to analysing the shape of things after these new arrivals.

When one thinks of 'art, money and parties', the gallery that seems to embody all three is Bodhi Art. In addition to its two spaces in Bombay (Kala Ghoda and Wadibunder), the organization also has a presence in Delhi, Singapore, New York and Berlin (since March 2008). Whether we like it or not, Bodhi Art has altered the tenor of the art scene. They, of the swanky white-cube galleries, have upped the ante of gallery displays in a variety of ways - from the well-funded presentations of artworks to the putting together of slick projections of video art. As much as some of Bombay's galleries might like to think that swish catalogues are all that are needed to sell 'high-end' art, the rules of the game dictate that more is necessary if contemporary Indian art is to compete successfully in an international context.

By virtue of 'bagging' most significant contemporary Indian artists, Bodhi Art has succeeded in putting together some eminently engaging, but alas never always groundbreaking, exhibitions. In the two years (and some months) that Bodhi Art has been around in Bombay, it has rarely, if ever, scouted around for fresh talent. The Bodhi Art Awards, however, may indicate that changes are afoot. Although the line-up of artists last year wasn't very exciting, the 2008 short-list and the three winners of the Award (the first prize went to Shreyas Karle, the second to Sandip Pisalkar and the third to Nazima Rangwala) are more than promising. Since Bodhi seems to be the gallery of choice for so many contemporary Indian artists, other galleries are re-asserting their presence in ways that not so long ago would have seemed inconceivable.