Situating Global Art: A Critical Volume on Decolonizing Art History and Curatorial Practices

Published in 2018 by Transcript Verlag, the 333-page volume 'Situating Global Art: Topologies, Temporalities, Trajectories' emerged from a 2015 conference organized by the International Research Training Group, Interart Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. Edited by Sarah Dornhof, Nanne Buurman, Birgit Hopfener, and Barbara Lutz, the book presents sixteen chapters and an introduction that challenge Euro-American dominance in art discourse. It examines systemic exclusions in art history's 'colonial unconscious' and advocates for relational approaches focusing on contacts, flows, and circulations. Case studies span Morocco, Haiti, Seoul, Singapore, and analyze Documenta and other biennials, with contributions from curators, art historians, and artists. The volume critiques neoliberal cultural logic and explores tensions between aesthetic consumption and socio-political engagement. Specific analyses include Zhang Peili's work in China, Okwui Enwezor's Documenta 11, the Ghetto Biennale in Haiti, and Gulf Labor's activism against institutions like the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. Theoretical frameworks engage Donna Haraway's concept of 'situated knowledges' and emphasize mobile positioning, partial perspectives, and transcultural dialogues. The book aims to decolonize art historical knowledge by shifting attention from national canons to global entanglements and institutional reinventions.