Globalization Nature, Biennials Without Borders

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Presentation essay
Summary of the article
The globalization nature of the world has left nothing unchanged. Consequently, the practice of contemporary art has gone beyond the artist place of birth and nationality. Based on this, Chin-Tao Wu authored “Biennials Without Borders?” to explore how the popularity of biennials in art have led to the loss of center and peripheries in art. The article was first seen in June 2009 on the New Left Review. Chin-Tao Wu recognized that it is the international diversity of artists that lead to real festivals. As a result, “international” and “festival” are key operative words in the biennial of arts.
The effects of the globalization of art have gone as far as exposing African, Asian, and South American artists in western events. In fact, all art festivals around the world measure their success and legitimacy based on how many artists they attract from all the corners of the world. However, the various artists majorly move between New York and London. As a result, Chin-Tao Wu (p. 2) wonders “whether these events have become another powerful Western filter, governing the access of artists from under-resourced parts of the world to the global mainstream.” Therefore, art may be globalized but only to be concentrated in the western part of the world.
Thesis statement
It is no doubt that the globalization of contemporary art has had a major impact on all elements of arts. However, the centers and peripheries of art have not been totally destroyed. Europe and the United States are the new centers while the other parts of the world are the peripheries. Nevertheless, an artist is only successfully when he/she reaches the center. As a result, artist around the world flow to the center (Europe and United States) to seek success. Consequently, the concentration of artists in that region has maintained the basic structure of contemporary art. Chin Tao-Wu (p, 5) demonstrate this fact by indicating that 92% of artists born in Latin America, Asia, and Africa move to North America and Europe A while nearly 90% of artists born in North America and Europe A move within that region.
Analysis of the text
Chin-Tao Wu admits that globalization of artistic work at international events haunts him. As a result, other than just accepting the globalization of contemporary art, the author asks “what ultimately is the nature of these changes, and for what reasons have they taken place? Is the muc...