Is art really global? The art world often prides itself with its “globalism”, but how global is it? Chin-Tao Wu who is an assistant research fellow at the Academia Sinica in Taiwan raises these questions in her journal”Biennials without borders?” .Wu raises two important questions. Where were the artists born? And, where are they currently living? The relation between the two tell us where the flow is. Wu constructed her data on the Kassel documenta exhibitions that were held between 1968 and 2007 in Germany. The questions were based on her observations of the respected docuemntas. Wu found that the vast majority of artists were born in North America, and Europe- over 90%. Reaching a staggering 96% in 1972. Wu also found that up to and including
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It emerged in an era where contemporary art was extremely centralized to the western world. Over 90% artists who performed in binneials came from western countries according to Chin-Tao Wu . So it doesn 't strike as a surprise that it is considered a controversial exhibition to this day, it penetrated the art world by the introduction of a new idea. The idea was a protest against the traditional Paris biennial where most of the art, and artists were western. The magicians of the earth exhibit featured 50% western artist and 50% non western artists, thus making the percentage equal. Art, equality, and culture sounds brilliant. However, the exhibition received a lot of criticism for various reasons. Benjamin Buchloh who is a German art historian inquired the question of high vs low culture to Jean-Hubert Martin in his interview “The whole earth show”. Buchloh asks Martin” Your attempt to select only the "highest artistic quality" from the cultural practices of "The Others" runs the risk of subjecting them to a similar process of selection and hierarchization”. The idea that art is pure and …show more content…
It is considered the first pan African biennial featuring African artists from all over Africa. It’s curator Yacouba Konate is an Ivorian art critic, a writer, and a professor at the universite de cocody in Abidjan. Konate draws some interesting issues in his book” The invention of the Dakar Biennial” Konate asks "In what sense can one speak of 'art ' when one speaks of African art?" The answer to this question, which sounds deliberately provocative, is not simple. One can choose between two types of answer. The first is to state that there is no African art because there is no equivalent term in African languages.”He goes on further to say” The second option is to state that African art does exist and, with generous condescension, to extend the category of art to include works produced for nonartistic purposes that can nevertheless stand up to a formal, aesthetic interpretation.”Konate uses the term artiality to describe a form of art that is a set of objects that are actively or potentially art objects as he says. Artiality defends African art from the Western view of “art”. Konate points that yes, Africa does have art.However, it is not in the traditional view of how westerns portray art. He explains” The extraordinary variety of versions of art goes beyond the supposed unity of art.”
It emerged in an era where contemporary art was extremely centralized to the western world. Over 90% artists who performed in binneials came from western countries according to Chin-Tao Wu . So it doesn 't strike as a surprise that it is considered a controversial exhibition to this day, it penetrated the art world by the introduction of a new idea. The idea was a protest against the traditional Paris biennial where most of the art, and artists were western. The magicians of the earth exhibit featured 50% western artist and 50% non western artists, thus making the percentage equal. Art, equality, and culture sounds brilliant. However, the exhibition received a lot of criticism for various reasons. Benjamin Buchloh who is a German art historian inquired the question of high vs low culture to Jean-Hubert Martin in his interview “The whole earth show”. Buchloh asks Martin” Your attempt to select only the "highest artistic quality" from the cultural practices of "The Others" runs the risk of subjecting them to a similar process of selection and hierarchization”. The idea that art is pure and …show more content…
It is considered the first pan African biennial featuring African artists from all over Africa. It’s curator Yacouba Konate is an Ivorian art critic, a writer, and a professor at the universite de cocody in Abidjan. Konate draws some interesting issues in his book” The invention of the Dakar Biennial” Konate asks "In what sense can one speak of 'art ' when one speaks of African art?" The answer to this question, which sounds deliberately provocative, is not simple. One can choose between two types of answer. The first is to state that there is no African art because there is no equivalent term in African languages.”He goes on further to say” The second option is to state that African art does exist and, with generous condescension, to extend the category of art to include works produced for nonartistic purposes that can nevertheless stand up to a formal, aesthetic interpretation.”Konate uses the term artiality to describe a form of art that is a set of objects that are actively or potentially art objects as he says. Artiality defends African art from the Western view of “art”. Konate points that yes, Africa does have art.However, it is not in the traditional view of how westerns portray art. He explains” The extraordinary variety of versions of art goes beyond the supposed unity of art.”