The term "globalization," prevalent since the 1990s, describes the increasing interconnectedness between nations, leading to a blurring of cultural, economic, and other boundaries. Whether understood in cultural or economic terms, the concept of globalization has become deeply embedded in the practices of biennials, international curators, and various contemporary artists.
The nation-state, defined by clear geographical boundaries, is a modern political construct. Prior to the colonial era, territorial definitions across much of the world often facilitated smoother inter-regional exchange. The diffusion of ancient Greek art, for instance, traversed linguistic, cultural, and religious borders, much like the way Roman emperors adapted Greek artistic forms for political power and propaganda. While Greek art achieved widespread adoption, its visual rhetoric often functioned similarly to modern commercial branding. Late 20th and early 21st-century globalization, in some ways, echoes these ancient patterns of borderless free trade and cultural exchange. Within sovereign nations, this has rapidly superseded older geopolitical models, signifying a major transformation. The powerful forces of multinational corporations, mobile labor, and real-time global communication often act as invisible drivers, frequently operating below the public's immediate awareness. Art, in this context, serves as a formal means to engage with the processes of globalization.
By the late 20th century, art had developed its own global operational model, primarily through the proliferation of biennials. These large-scale, themed international contemporary art exhibitions aim to enhance the prestige of host cities and attract investment. Biennials are typically shaped by "super-curators," the international art market, and local artistic practices. Alongside long-established events like the Venice and São Paulo Biennales, new ones have emerged since the 1980s in cities such as Berlin, Dakar, Johannesburg, Liverpool, Shanghai, and Sharjah.
Okwui Enwezor's curatorial approach, as chief curator of the second Johannesburg Biennale (1997), titled "Trade Routes: History and Geography," has often been cited as a textbook case of globalization in art. Enwezor and his transnational curatorial team began to explore "questions of citizenship and borders, rather than... mere celebration in the traditional sense." They sought to examine "the conditions under which one becomes a citizen... within specific contexts of shifting political landscapes."
Yinka Shonibare CBE materially expresses the history and geography of globalization. His sculptural figures, often based on 18th- and 19th-century portraits, are dressed in vibrant, Dutch wax print fabrics. This choice symbolizes both the complexities of colonialism and the global circulation of goods, including textiles manufactured in African factories. Shonibare states, "Something as simple as fabric carries political, social, historical, and cultural metaphors."
Other artists, like Renée Cox, Chris Ofili, Francesco Clemente, Keith Tyson, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Maurizio Cattelan, Matthew Barney, Marina Abramović, and Olav Christopher Jenssen, also reflect global influences and themes in their work. Gu Wenda, an artist who has critically examined the relationship between politics, society, history, and culture, argues that the world lacks a simple "Eastern and Western" dichotomy.
