ABSTRACT
Is there such a thing as a global art history? At times, the Art Seminar answers the question with a definite “no,” even when the possibilities are discussed from several vantage points. Ultimately, the answers depend on which “art history” one speaks of since one can make the overall claim that a global art history exists as long as it is possible to find education and research in the history of art on the various continents of the globe. This is so even when the claim is only possible because research and teaching merge with artistic activity in some places, especially outside to the Western centers, or if a few large geographical areas exist where the history of art is not taught or researched locally. Greenland comes to mind, where Ilisimatusarfik, Greenland’s university in Nuuk, and the only one of its kind on the enormous island, does not cover art history, though many scholars who research arctic culture would claim that art has been produced in Greenland since the first Eskimos.
