The foreigners are coming…. And some of them are being welcomed with open palms! Close on the heels of the Vietnamese art exhibition, followed by renowned American artist, Kiki Smith's solo show, both at Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai hosted other art events. Pakistani artist, Chand Saigol's Khajuraho Revisited, co-presented by Bernadette da Cunha at Gallery Beyond, London-based Russian artist Ivanov's solo show at Gallery Art & Soul and a group show featuring four Korean artists co-curated by Jasmine Shah Varma and Kim Kyongae at Hacienda Gallery - all ushered 2007 on an international note. So, is it the novelty of the exotic that is attracting art audiences to such shows or is there a more serious interest?

As always, independent curator, Ranjit Hoskote, has given the trend some thought. "Novelty seizes the attention, but a sober assessment of the investment value of an artefact drawn from a foreign context does come into play," he reflects, before presenting his succinct analysis of the reasons why foreign artists are increasingly choosing to show their work here. "The vast volume of capital that has come visibly into the Indian art world in recent years, has had the effect of identifying India as a serious art buying country. We see, today, a gradual interest in art from the rest of the world, among Indian collectors. And as though to take advantage of that emerging collector interest, artists from elsewhere are thinking seriously of India as a viewership to cultivate."

Ranjana Steinruecke of Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke agrees that "Indian collectors are now interested in informing themselves about international art trends and prices," but warns that "while a market can certainly be cultivated locally, just showing any 'phoren' artist is not the point." While her gallery's Vietnamese exhibition featured among others Tran Luong, the best known and most active, dynamic Vietnamese artist internationally after a thorough research on that country's art scene with the help of professionals and museums, Smith is an acknowledged art icon all over the world. "I think what would be great is if more fantastic exhibitions of major international contemporary art are held to shake up the local scene, create excitement, interest and a real dialogue," she deduces.

Hoskote believes that Indian audiences must distinguish between the truly major or interesting foreign artists and the merely ordinary ones who happen to be foreign and showing here. This fact has not stopped him from trying to nurture a taste for art other than our own regardless of whether the artist is 'major' or not. Recalling that a few years ago, when he curated an exhibition of Asian art for the Japan Foundation, called Clicking into Place, he showed a young Philippine painter who worked in the realm of magic realism, and discloses that "a number of major collectors were interested in acquiring his paintings, based on an instinctive response to an artist they had not seen before".

Cultivating such an audience is uppermost in the minds of curators like Jasmine Shah Varma too. "I have been showing the works of South Korean artist, Kim Kyoungae, at Hacienda. Kyoungae has been based in Baroda since the last 10 years...and her nationality did not make a difference to me, the gallery or the buyers," she declares. "At most, they were curious. After conversing with her about her roots and way of thinking to arrive at a deeper understanding of her work, we felt the need to place Kim in the context of artists from her home country. Now, we and the audience have a greater understanding of her work placed alongside other artists from Korea. This has been shared with an audience that had similar questions and curiosities as we did."

Some Indian collectors seem to be displaying a willingness to take risks. Tarana Khubchandani of Gallery Art & Soul is satisfied with her buyers' reactions to the works of the series of talented foreign artists she has been showing. In July 2005, she held a workshop with US-based ceramist, Jacqueline Yu Fan Li, interacting with potters and painters from Mumbai and Baroda...and then followed it up with an exhibition. In December 2005, she presented the same ceramist in collaboration with abstract Indian artist, Sheetal Gattani. Before that, in November, she exhibited the work of Japanese artist, Masa Kumagai and accompanied it with a workshop by Kumagai on printmaking. In the beginning of this year, it was the turn of London-based Russian painter, Ivanov...and before the year ends, she will be showing two Chinese artists, Victor Lai and Yank!

"We are trying to cultivate an audience. Personally, I believe art is global with a universal language. All my efforts are towards raising awareness on art - both Indian and otherwise," maintains Khubchandani. "It also affords an opportunity for our younger artists to widen their vision, inputs and horizon through interactions with foreign artists. Buyers, non-buyers and artists all appreciated Ivanov's work style...and in the spirit of camaraderie, he painted pennants for this year's Kala Ghoda Art Festival," she discloses with understandable enthusiasm.

Vibhuraj Kapoor of Gallery Beyond, who recently hosted Pakistani artist, Chand Saigol's work, dubs exhibitions by artists who are not really established on the international scene as "tentative moves to check out the feasibility in the Indian art market" and speculates that foreign artists choosing to come to India "are possibly exploring new visuals and experiences for themselves" .He also suggests that since any showing of Indian artists abroad has largely been the effort of the artists themselves, their gallery/galleries abroad sans intervention from the cultural ministry or the largesse of any foundation, Indian galleries try to reciprocate by showing non-Indian artists. "Very often, it becomes a quid pro quo," he admits. "Also, since Indian contemporary art is venturing outside its limited pond, it makes sense to turn global in the true sense of the word by letting the world in!"

That is certainly what India is poised to do. This month, the ITC Grand Central Sheraton Hotel & Towers plays host to New Delhi-based Nitanjali Art Gallery's group exhibition of contemporary art curated by Elizabeth Rogers, titled Uninterrupted Journeys. Buoyed by the success of their Indo-Pakistani art show held last year, this one features a majority of Indian artists like Akbar Padamsee, Paresh Maity, Suhas Roy and Satish Gupta alongside Pakistani artists like Europe-based Jamil Naqsh, Gulgee and Ahmed Khan. "There is a synergy in the work of these artists. We have realised that their nationality does not matter," explains the gallery's Mumbai representative Urvashi Sethi-Sodhi.

Despite the fact that the art fraternity worldwide is transmuting into a global village, there are still collectors who err on the side of caution. Conquered by their fears and anxieties, they come, they see, but do not buy. Calling them 'prisoners of their assumptions', Hoskote recommends they "free themselves and listen to the voices of curiosity, mystery and pleasure. Viewers should learn to be more accepting of artworks and artistic projects that may at first seem unfamiliar, bizarre or irrelevant because art works best through oblique revelations." He accepts that a great deal of viewing, reading and conversation is needed but insists that "we must never forget that while markets are developed through the consolidation of accepted wisdom, they really expand only through the innovation of new insights, new experiences and new situations of encounter".

Major or not, the wave of foreign art continues to strike against our shores. And it is up to Indian art audiences to make the best of these new situations of encounter by honing their skills at evaluating unknown artistic talent before gearing up to spread their nets worldwide. Who knows, you might get yourself a prized catch while sitting on the bank!