The predominance of dust in the polar region of AGN

Recent mid-infrared (MIR) interferometric observations showed in few AGN that the bulk of the infrared emission originates from the polar region above the putative torus, where only little dust should be present.
Our investigation of 149 Seyferts with high angular resolution MIR images from, e.g., VLT/VISIR shows that  significant polar dust emission is probably very common in AGN. The relative amount of resolved MIR emission is at least 40 per cent and scales with the narrow emission line fluxes implying a strong connection between the extended continuum and line emitters. These results together with the radio-quiet nature of the Seyferts support the scenario that the bulk of MIR emission is emitted by dust in the polar region and not by the torus, which would demand a new paradigm for the infrared emission structure in AGN. We will discuss some of the resulting implications and give prospects for future instruments to further test this scenario.