Introduction
The São Paulo Biennial stands as Latin America's oldest and most significant contemporary art exhibition, a cultural powerhouse that has shaped artistic discourse across the Global South for over seven decades. Founded in 1951 by industrialist Ciccillo Matarazzo, it emerged from Brazil's post-war ambition to position itself at the center of international cultural dialogue, creating a platform that would rival Venice while amplifying voices from the Americas and beyond.
Housed in Oscar Niemeyer's iconic modernist pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, the biennial has evolved from its initial mission of bringing international modern art to Brazil into a critical space for examining power, representation, and resistance through contemporary artistic practice. With over 16,000 artists from 170 countries having participated across its 35 editions, it remains one of the few major international biennials with free admission, embodying its commitment to art as a public right rather than an elite privilege.
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The Alchemist of Asymmetries: How Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung Is Reimagining the São Paulo Biennial as a Laboratory for Humanity
In the pantheon of contemporary curators who have fundamentally challenged how we conceive of art institutions, few have traveled as unlikely a path as Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung. The journey from a laboratory bench in Berlin, where he once studied the molecular mechanics of life, to the helm of the world's second-oldest biennial reads like a parable about the porousness of disciplines—and the necessity of breaking down the walls between science, art, and society.
When Ndikung arrives in São Paulo to curate the 36th edition of the biennial, he brings with him not just an impressive résumé of international exhibitions but a radical methodology forged in the crucible of creating SAVVY Contemporary, the Berlin art space he founded in 2009 that became a beacon for non-Western perspectives in one of Europe's most cosmopolitan cities. His appointment represents more than a curatorial choice; it signals a fundamental shift in how Latin America's most important art exhibition sees itself in relation to global power structures and local communities.
The title of his biennial, "Not All Travellers Walk Roads—Of Humanity as Practice," drawn from Afro-Brazilian poet Conceição Evaristo's enigmatic verse, immediately establishes the territory Ndikung intends to explore. This is not about the well-trodden paths of international art world circulation, where the same names appear in Venice, Kassel, and New York. Instead, Ndikung proposes to chart the unmarked routes, the desire paths worn by those who move outside official channels, whose journeys—physical, spiritual, epistemological—challenge our understanding of what it means to be human in a world that seems increasingly intent on dividing us into categories.
The three-fragment structure of the exhibition, unfolding across 2025 and into early 2026, represents a deliberate slowing down of biennial time. Where most exhibitions compress their ambitions into a few months of spectacle, Ndikung and his curatorial team—Alya Sebti, Anna Roberta Goetz, Thiago de Paula Souza, Keyna Eleison, and Henriette Gallus—propose something more akin to a sustained conversation, or perhaps more accurately, a collective listening session.
The first fragment invites us to reclaim space and time, to pay attention to what Evaristo calls the "submerged worlds that only the silence of poetry and poetic listening can access." In an art world obsessed with visibility and virality, this call for submersion feels almost countercultural. The second fragment turns to the question of recognition—what do we see when we look at ourselves reflected in the other? The third, still to be fully revealed, promises to explore forms of coexistence that don't rely on the violence of assimilation or the false comfort of tolerance.
What makes Ndikung's approach particularly resonant for São Paulo—a megacity of over 12 million where extreme wealth and poverty exist in uncomfortable proximity—is his understanding of the biennial as what he calls a "seismograph." Not merely recording the tremors of our contemporary moment but actively participating in shaping "a more just, humanitarian future for all animate and inanimate beings on this planet." This expanded notion of who and what counts as a participant in culture reflects the influence of Indigenous cosmologies that have long been present in Brazilian thought but often marginalized in its major cultural institutions.
The metaphor of the estuary that guides the curatorial project—a place where different waters converge without losing their distinct properties—speaks directly to Brazil's complex history of cultural mixture and violence. Unlike the often-celebrated notion of mestiçagem that can obscure ongoing structures of racism and exclusion, Ndikung's estuary acknowledges difference while creating space for encounter. It's a subtle but crucial distinction that reflects his years of working in contexts where simplistic multiculturalism fails to address deeper asymmetries of power.
Ndikung's trajectory from Cameroon to Germany, from biotechnology to contemporary art, has equipped him with what he calls a "biotechnological" approach to curating—understanding exhibitions as living systems that evolve through interaction rather than static displays of objects. This methodology, developed through years of running SAVVY Contemporary on a shoestring budget in a former wedding salon in Berlin's Wedding district, treats constraints not as limitations but as generative forces.
The "Invocations" that precede the main exhibition—gatherings featuring panels, poetry, music, and performance—represent this approach in action. Rather than the typical press conferences and VIP previews that mark biennial openings, these events position the exhibition as the continuation of an already-ongoing conversation. They acknowledge that the work of "conjugating humanity," as Ndikung puts it, cannot be confined to gallery walls or opening weeks.
Perhaps most significantly, Ndikung's biennial promises to engage seriously with sound as a carrier of knowledge and resistance. His interest in musical forms like Gnawa, Gwoka, Taraab, and Kankyō ongaku suggests an understanding that some forms of knowledge and memory are carried not in images or texts but in rhythms and frequencies that move through bodies and across time. In a city like São Paulo, where the sounds of samba, funk, and a dozen other musical traditions provide the soundtrack to daily life, this attention to the sonic feels particularly apt.
As the São Paulo Biennial approaches its 75th anniversary, Ndikung's edition represents both a reckoning with its history and a reimagining of its future. Can an institution born from mid-century dreams of modernization transform itself into a space for what Ndikung calls "humanity as practice"? Can it maintain its position as a major international art event while genuinely serving the communities that surround it? These questions don't have easy answers, but in refusing to walk only the established roads, Ndikung and his team are creating space for new possibilities to emerge. In a world that desperately needs new models for how we might live together, their experiment in sustained attention and radical openness feels less like an art exhibition and more like a survival strategy for the species.
Artistic Vision & Themes
The São Paulo Biennial has consistently positioned itself at the intersection of aesthetic innovation and social critique, using art as a lens to examine Brazil's complex realities and its place in global conversations. From its early role in introducing international modernism to Brazilian audiences, the biennial has evolved into a platform for challenging Eurocentric narratives and amplifying perspectives from the Global South.
The 36th edition's theme, "Not All Travellers Walk Roads—Of Humanity as Practice," proposes a radical rethinking of humanity not as a fixed state but as an active, ongoing practice. Curator Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung invites us to consider alternative paths of knowledge and being, drawing on Brazilian philosophies, Indigenous cosmologies, and Afro-diasporic traditions to imagine new forms of coexistence.
This extended format, spanning from September 2025 to January 2026, allows for what Ndikung calls a "research project" approach—one that values process over product, listening over speaking, and multiplicity over consensus. The three curatorial fragments explore themes of temporal resistance, mutual recognition, and planetary interdependence, positioning art as a tool for reimagining our relationships with each other and the more-than-human world.
History & Legacy
Founded in 1951 during Brazil's post-war industrial boom, the São Paulo Biennial emerged from the vision of Italian-Brazilian industrialist Francisco "Ciccillo" Matarazzo, who sought to position São Paulo as a global cultural capital. Modeled after Venice but with distinctly Latin American ambitions, it quickly became the Southern Hemisphere's most important platform for contemporary art.
The biennial's history mirrors Brazil's own political trajectory—from developmental optimism through military dictatorship to democratic struggles. The 1969 international boycott protesting the military regime demonstrated art's capacity for political resistance, while subsequent editions have grappled with questions of representation, access, and the role of culture in society.
First biennial established by Ciccillo Matarazzo, featuring 1,800 works from 19 countries
Moves to Oscar Niemeyer's pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, its permanent home
International boycott protests military dictatorship, sparking debates about art and politics
Paulo Herkenhoff's "Anthropophagy" edition reframes Brazilian cultural identity
Ivo Mesquita's "Living Contact" leaves second floor empty, questioning biennial format
Free admission policy implemented, democratizing access to art
34th edition "Though it's dark, still I sing" responds to pandemic and political crisis
35th edition "Choreographies of the impossible" features first majority Black curatorial team
36th edition "Not All Travellers Walk Roads" extends across 16 months
From the Art World
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Exhibition Venues
The São Paulo Biennial's primary home is the Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo, Oscar Niemeyer's masterpiece of Brazilian modernist architecture situated in the heart of Ibirapuera Park. This iconic structure, with its 30,000 square meters of column-free exhibition space across three floors, provides an unparalleled setting for large-scale installations and intimate works alike.
The pavilion's serpentine ramps, vast open floors, and floor-to-ceiling windows create a unique dialogue between art, architecture, and the surrounding parkland. Recent editions have expanded beyond the pavilion to activate sites throughout São Paulo, from historic buildings in the city center to community spaces in the periphery, reflecting the biennial's commitment to engaging with the city's diverse publics.
During the 36th edition, expect to see the pavilion transformed through Ndikung's curatorial vision, with spaces for gathering, listening, and collective learning alongside traditional exhibition galleries. The extended timeframe allows for the building to evolve throughout the biennial, becoming a living organism that responds to its visitors and the city around it.
Video Experience
Immerse yourself in the São Paulo Biennial experience through this exploration of the exhibitions, artists, and the vibrant cultural landscape of Brazil's artistic capital.
Video: São Paulo Biennial Exhibition Experience | Watch on YouTube
Venue Location
The São Paulo Biennial takes place at the Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo in Ibirapuera Park, one of Latin America's largest urban parks and a cultural hub featuring multiple museums, performance spaces, and recreational areas.
- Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo - Av. Pedro Álvares Cabral, Parque Ibirapuera
- Access - Multiple entrances via Gates 3 and 7
- Metro - AACD-Servidor station (Line 5-Lilac)
- Parking - Available within Ibirapuera Park (paid)
- Accessibility - Full wheelchair access and facilities
São Paulo City Guide
Brazil's largest metropolis pulses with creative energy, offering visitors an unparalleled cultural experience beyond the biennial.
Art Museums
MASP, MAM, Pinacoteca
Street Art
Beco do Batman, Vila Madalena
Cultural Districts
Centro, Augusta, Pinheiros
Gastronomy
Municipal Market, Liberdade
Cultural Highlights
- MASP - Latin America's most important collection of European art
- Pinacoteca - Premier Brazilian art from 19th century to present
- Instituto Moreira Salles - Photography and contemporary culture
- Japan House - Japanese culture in the heart of Paulista Avenue
- Museu Afro Brasil - Celebrating African heritage in Brazilian culture
- CCBB - Major rotating exhibitions in historic bank building
Neighborhoods to Explore
- Vila Madalena - Bohemian quarter with galleries, bars, and street art
- Liberdade - Largest Japanese community outside Japan
- Centro Histórico - Colonial architecture and cultural institutions
- Pinheiros - Trendy area with design studios and cafes
- Bela Vista - Theater district and Italian heritage