The 36th edition of the Bienal de São Paulo only takes place in September 2025, but the concept of the event and the names that will make up its curatorial team have already been announced by the Fundação Bienal. Nem todo viandante anda estradas – Da humanidade como prática will be the theme of the exhibition, which will once again occupy the Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo, in Parque do Ibirapuera. According to the official statement, the theme was inspired by the poem “Da calma e do silêncio”, by the Brazilian writer Conceição Evaristo.
“The central proposal of this Biennial is to rethink humanity as a verb, a living practice, in a world that demands reimagining relations, asymmetries and listening as the bases of coexistence, starting from three curatorial fragments/axes. The metaphor of the estuary – the place where different currents of water meet and create a space of coexistence – guides the curatorial project, inspired by Brazilian philosophies, landscapes and mythologies. This concept reflects the multiplicity of encounters that have marked the history of Brazil and proposes that humanity should come together and transform itself through attentive listening and negotiation between distinct beings and worlds”, explains the institution's website.
The general curatorship will be in the hands of the Cameroonian Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, who will have as co-curators Alya Sebti (Morocco), Anna Roberta Goetz (Switzerland) and Thiago de Paula Souza (Brazil), as well as the co-curator Keyna Eleison (Brazil) and the communication and strategy consultant Henriette Gallus (Germany).
The Fundação Bienal also announced that the exhibition will gain four more weeks, and will run from 6 September 2025 to 11 January 2026. In addition, Casa do Povo, in Bom Retiro, will act as a tributary of the exhibition, hosting a programme of artistic performances.
