While there is an urgency for historicising and defining the term contemporary, it’s also being used as an institutional object. An example of this is the changing institutional landscape of Indian contemporary art and the expansion of the India Art Fair to Mumbai as the India Art Fair Contemporary (IAFC), to be inaugurated at Jio World Garden in November 2025, alongside the existing Art Mumbai fair.
New experimental art spaces are emerging across the country. Galleries like Chemould Prescott Road, Gallery Espace, Chatterjee & Lal, Bodhi Art and Artisera are expanding their presence while new ones are opening. These include New Delhi gallery Nature Morte opening a new space in Mumbai’s Colaba and Artisera expanding offline with its first physical space in Bengaluru. This growth is fuelled by a rising interest in contemporary art, as it’s a set of artistic productions maintained by a global set of art institutions.
Indian artists are increasingly making their mark on the global stage. Names like Shilpa Gupta, Subodh Gupta, Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra, and more are recognised internationally as their work shares a certain sensibility, aesthetic and a decline of postmodernism. Contemporary Indian art is deeply intertwined with the social and political context of the country. Artists are using their work to comment on issues such as caste, class, gender, and environmental degradation. This engagement with social reality is a defining characteristic of contemporary Indian art.
The author is an art collector and TV star.
 "What is HMPV, the mysterious virus that China is struggling with? – Firstpost")
