ABSTRACT
Creative processes can be an internal process only (Kroeber 1948, 1953; Sapir 1916; Graebner 1911; Vansina 1968), as we saw in the previous chapter, or they can be induced, at least in part, by external stimuli. Foreign objects, techniques, stylistic characteristics, themes or motifs could influence the taste of the public and set artists thinking. Quite often such influences enriched the local repertoire, and in art as in other fields they were quite important. If the oikoumene had such a varied output, it was largely due to the fact that its artists had access to a larger storehouse of forms and concepts from which to choose. The notion of regional tradition itself implies that mutual exchange between neighbouring styles did not reach very far and isolation prevailed. Hence, considerable originality was preserved, but a major voice for inspiration, external stimuli, remained mute.
