The festive season has started in India and some of the Bangalore galleries are trying hard to bring terrific gifts of the art stage for the city art friends. It resonates with some of the best art fairs around the world. The FIAC in Paris and the Frieze Art Fair in London have brought to the European public, the best and the worst of contemporary art. Let us keep our eyes open and look for the best, art that will touch us personally and connect with us emotionally. It could be a painting, a sculpture, a video, a photo or an installation. Whatever it is, it will bring us a lot of individual, almost selfish pleasure. And that's the magic of art.

Apparao showed us Germination, installations by Puneet Kaushik. Though I have to admit that it is difficult to actualise the write-up about the show, I enjoyed the exhibition. The artist took possession of the space the way a spider would have done it: he created nets using fine metal thread. With them he formed a fantastical atmosphere that takes the viewers to great memories like 'Brazil' by Terry Gilliam, a classic of the genre. Puneet gives us a chance to explore our psyche and the question about our origins. A well attempt indeed.

Tasveer took us by surprise and offered us Transmigrations (India Songs), photographs by Karen Knorr. Karen displayed few recently clicked photos of Rajasthan palaces. Using latest technologies she has virtually bring animals into placeswhich were reserved for Rajput Men's (mardana) and Women's (zanana) i.e, bedrooms, drawing rooms, corridors and patios. Karen's art merges raw nature and exquisite Rajput culture. She has revisited aestheticity of it and has merged a romantic approach to it. The viewers might accept it or not. That will not prevent Karen from showing us the most beautiful interiors with an animal of her choice. Strange even beautiful.

The Goethe Institut organized The Dimension of the Plane Communication Design in Germany. Design is probably the easiest way to connect to art. It constitutes a bridge to art. Some even say it is a form of art. The viewers will surely share this opinion while exploring projects of the best and most well known German designers in the field of digital media, corporate design, signage, graphic design and typography. For the latter, amazing researches and works have been conducted and most of us would not even think about it. This exhibition is an eye opener.

1 Shanti Road presented Every Sound Alarms, a sound supported installation by Beate Engl. Beate, a Munich based artist. Beate spent a few weeks in Bangalore to explore the city on a residency. She plunged into its 'noisescape' and studied the relationships between sound and object. The installations reflects appealing point of view about Bangalore.

The Alliance Française took a very different stand this month. They introduced us a story teller, Muriel Bloch, who started her India road show in Bangalore. She came to India with a collection of tales and stories from all over the world. She captured the attention of adults and kids. She made us laugh and cry. It was a marvellous evening of popular myths and mythology. If you meet her in Delhi, Bombay or Calcutta, request her to narrate the beautiful Brazilian story of Paolo, the fishermen.

Serendip had the brilliant idea to organize a show which was a visual pleasure. The show was conceptualised at a camp in Coorg. At the opening, Murali Cheeroth offered a performance which revolved around a dead brain with a reflection on communication and memory. The walls adorned works of George Martin, Alok Bal and Manjunath Kamath and others. This show was a great initiative.

Tangerine organized Beyond the Frame, an exhibition of paintings by some of the most reputed Indian artists. The canvases presented a glimpse of history, built in a context where market pressures were surely less felt, far away from today's competition for career building.

Gallery SKE presented LEO (procedure in search of an original index), by Sreshta Premnath. Sreshta explores the different representations of power through various medium. He wonders how symbols could at the same time fortify and diminish what they represent. An interesting way to approach sign, images and myths that makes our everyday life.

The NGMA in cooperation with Art 21, kicked off a series of movies about contemporary art. They touched a broad spectrum of subjects like contemporary art and spirituality or consumption. Nice insights for endless discussions.

Abstract Art Gallery and Gallerie de Art also had their say and brought us works of various local artists. And Gallery G is preparing a festival of art interconnecting painting, music and dance. Who says there is nothing happening in Bangalore?