GALLERY 8

First globalisation

The circulation of goods and people experienced unprecedented acceleration during the modern period. In just three centuries, new systems of global exchange and the emergence of new empires transformed societies and territories, resulting in enormous displacements of people, either due to slavery, economic migration or war. Quickening the pace of cultural, material and spiritual transmission, these disruptions and transformations also facilitated social and cultural exchange within and between empires. Artists and craftsmen visualised these developments while exploring new materials, aesthetics and techniques. In a world with new broadened horizons, the notion of the norm, the model and role of the artist were reexamined in new terms.