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Now that the world in this Open Source Society is getting smaller all the time, artists of non-Western countries have become well aware of Western art history and art theories. This is also the reason why the Western art world is starting to ask itself the question if the all-encompassing interpretation models (modernism, avant-gardism, post-modernism) are still topical and to the point. Over the the past 25 years this development has caused an ongoing debate between anthropologists and art historians about the way non-Western art should be interpreted and judged. In this study is offered an overview and analysis of the discussions and writings about the way the art historical discipline should adapt its perspectives and approaches to the new global thinking and practice. Within this discourse two problems are involved: the way the field should deal with the formation of a World Art History and how to respond to contemporary art of non-Western artists. This book is of interest for everybody who is involved with Art History and contemporary art: Art History professors, Art History students, art critics and artists, but also for cultural anthropologists and cultural historians.

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Hestia Bavelaar(1961)is assistant professor Modern and Contemporary Art at the University of Utrecht and at the University College in Utrecht.Her research and teachings are directed to modern and contemporary non-Western art and the globalization of the art world. This includes also the way globalization influences Western Art History.

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