In the context of globalization, many talk about a collapse of the concept of time and space and of the flatness of the world (Thomas Friedman) created by the virtual reality of the internet, film and mass media. The exchange of data and information is instantaneous in this virtual world. All differences, the unique nature of things and places and the individualized characters of individuals thus melt together.

How is this situation reflected in art? Despite the anticipated end of everything we know - including the classic art genres - traditional painting, sculpture and photography in contemporary art retain their up-to-the-minute character side by side with the new media or seem even fresher and more vivid than the new media. Why is that?

The explanation may be simple. Interlaced with a spirit of democratization seeking out a universal common denominator, globalization in art has produced artworks that do not have to be seen. Any encounter with them is fully replaceable by a reproduction, photograph, mere description or verbal explanation. Nevertheless, as soon as such virtual artwork became a kind of standard, it simultaneously became a background against which any real gesture suddenly begins to redefine, i.e. the physical presence of real people, things and artworks takes on new power and meaning against the background of the neutral world of global media, which has become the basis for thought, feeling and perception. And as no exchange of information occurs during the encounter because all data are constantly and universally available, simple experiences such as the common enjoyment of a present and unrepeatable moment in a specific place become a luxury and a true joy. Likewise, an individual form, identity or nationality becomes prominent, like a colour on a grey background, and we may finally apprehend it.
The artworks on display come from different parts of the world. They are universally comprehensible and up-to-date in the degree to which they represent a specific angle of view of reality linked with the specific context of their origin. In their variety, they do not testify to a relativity of values, but to the necessary existence of different values representing the inner necessity of the given practice in life, not a rule imposed from the outside. Although these artworks employ a globally comprehensible vocabulary, they do not represent global art - only perhaps a global respect for local differences, as global art exists as no more than a neutral, universally-valid perspective of a statement of reality.