"Throughout history, economic needs, material desires, and political ambitions have brought people from different cultures and communities into contact. Whether clashes or cooperative endeavors, these convergences have brought about the exchange of knowledge and Ideas. In the visual arts, they have led to creative juxtapositions, hybrid styles, and the reinterpretation of traditional signs and symbols." from the Art through Time: A Global View Website

"Through art, we can perceive more than what we see with our eyes. From Aboriginal artists painting unseen forces to Surrealists exploring the recesses of the unconscious mind, individuals have found ways to give form to unknowable mysteries, personal fantasies, and inner visions. Artist Sandy Skoglund talks about the life of the imagination." from the Art through Time: A Global View Website

"People have documented history, and also have shaped it through art. Art commemorates achievements and failures, recording and creating communal and personal memories. At times painters and sculptors have appropriated artistic forms of the past to make statements in the present. Multimedia artist Shimon Attie shares work that concerns questions of memory, place, and identity." from the Art through Time: A Global View Website

"Many of the objects and images displayed in museums were never intended to be viewed as static artworks. Different meanings emerge when these works are considered in their original contexts. Masks, costumes, vessels, and other objects were created and used to conduct ceremonies and rituals around the world. Three Traditional Bearers of the tuwaduq Nation create a site for a soul recovery ceremony in the Seattle Art Museum." from the Art through Time: A Global View Website

"In all cultures, people strive to understand their reason for being and their place in the universe. Although art cannot offer definitive answers to life’s biggest questions, it often serves as a means through which to explore them. Art can be an instrument not only for expressing spiritual beliefs, but also for visualizing myths, organizing the cosmos, inspiring faith, and communing with the divine. Russian artist Vitaly Komar is featured." from the Art through Time: A Global View Website

"Death is a universal experience. Throughout history, art has served to help people understand death, prepare for it, and cope with it. From the funerary arts of ancient Egypt to Mexican Day of the Dead festivities in modern times, art shapes and reflects attitudes toward death, as well as approaches to living. Italian-born artist Angelo Filomeno’s works explore the intermingling of death and fantasy." from the Art through Time: A Global View Website

"From tables and tapestries to bowls and baskets, art has always figured prominently in domestic life. Within living spaces, objects of aesthetic value have fulfilled practical functions, indulged individual fancies, and expressed shared values. Art turns houses into homes and enriches the activities of everyday life. Textile artist Faith Ringgold explores the line between high art and craft by combining painting, quilted fabric, and storytelling." from the Art through Time: A Global View site

"Since the dawn of civilization the relationship between written words and pictures has been manipulated to communicate ideas. It has also inspuired coutless artists, whose works demonstrate how text and image can enhance, supplement, complicate, or even undermine each other’s meanings. Calligrapher, printmaker and Macarthur “genius award” recipient, Xu Bing is featured." from the Art through Time: A Global View Website

"Across cultures and throughout time, portraiture has played an important role in the way people have understood themselves and their relationships to others. Portraits serve a range of functions, from declaring power and status to making larger statements about society. Painter Kehinde Wiley paints portraits of African American men in the poses inspired by classic works of the old masters." from the Art through Time: A Global View Website

"From the earliest times, people have found sustenance, solace, challenge, and mystery in the natural world. In representations of animals, landscapes, and earthworks, art has been a means through which humans have negotiated their relationship to nature as well as to each other. We view drawings of the natural world mirrored by a metaphysical concept of the same image in the work of Kay Walkingstick." from the Art through Time: A Global View Website

"For thousands of years cities have been hubs of activity, centers of industry, and places from which new aesthetic trends originate, evolve, and spread. The creative visions of planners, painters, architects, and sculptors have shaped the development of cities around the world. In turn, the urban experience has inspired the creation of art work depicting aspects of city life." from the Art through Time: A Global View Website

"Throughout history, groups and individuals have sought not only to maintain control over their own lives, but also to assert their power over the lives of others. Visual art has played an important role in documenting such conflict and resistance. It also has served as a means for expressing personal views on politics, war, social inequities, and the human condition." from the Art through Time: A Global View Website

"From painting to sculpture, body art to performance art, the body has figured prominently in the creative expression of nearly all cultures from the beginning of civilization. Through art, the body becomes a site for defining individual identity, constructing sex and gender ideals, negotiating power, and experimenting with the nature of representation itself." from the Art through Time: A Global View Website

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