Curator Diane Lima will lead Comigo ninguém pode (With Me Nobody Can), featuring artists Rosana Paulino and Adriana Varejão for the Brazilian Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.
LEFT TO RIGHT: Diane Lima, Rosana Paulino, and Adriana Varejão. Credits: Wallace Domingues, Rodrigo Ladeira, and Tinko Czetwertynski.
Fundação Bienal de São Paulo has announced Diane Lima as curator of the Brazilian Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, which will take place from 9 May to 22 November 2026. Lima has invited artists Rosana Paulino and Adriana Varejão to present the exhibition Comigo ninguém pode (With Me Nobody Can), a title that references both the Portuguese name of the Dieffenbachia plant and a popular saying meaning “nobody can handle me” or “nobody can beat me.”
Drawing on this duality, the project uses the plant’s associations of protection, toxicity, and resilience as metaphors for historical endurance and transformation. The exhibition will explore the intersections in Paulino’s and Varejão’s practices, in which reflections on colonial wounds, healing, and rewriting history give way to processes of metamorphosis and renewed imagination.
A Dialogue Between Histories and Bodies
In Comigo ninguém pode, Lima establishes a curatorial framework that connects two of Brazil’s most significant contemporary artists. “Together, Paulino and Varejão historically represent the most revolutionary aspects of the presence of women in national art,” she explains. “Their poetics, in harmony and in friction, echo the struggles of social movements and democracy while retaining the sensitivity and technical mastery that define their practices.”
For Varejão, the exhibition will deepen her engagement with the architecture of the Pavilion itself: “Rosana Paulino’s work and mine intersect in the power of colonial wounds—a subject that structures the DNA of our work. I hope to develop a dialogue with Rosana that expands the possibilities of our artistic paths.”
Paulino adds, “Being in the Brazilian Pavilion in Venice, alongside Adriana Varejão, is an opportunity to investigate colonial wounds from different female perspectives that come together in an unprecedented dialogue. This encounter proposes a revision of art history by questioning the canon and recovering silenced memories.”
Institutional Collaboration
Since 2023, the selection process for the Brazilian Pavilion has been guided by a joint committee representing the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo. This model supports greater transparency and collaboration in determining Brazil’s representation in Venice.
According to Andrea Pinheiro, President of the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, “The curatorship of Diane Lima, with the presence of Rosana Paulino and Adriana Varejão, reaffirms the power and complexity of Brazil’s output on the international stage. This announcement coincides with the investment in the recovery of our Pavilion. It renews our commitment to present a project in Venice worthy of the global debate to which Brazil has much to contribute.”
Renewal of the Brazilian Pavilion
The 2026 presentation coincides with the restoration of the Brazilian Pavilion at the Giardini, overseen by the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture. The ongoing project includes structural restoration, technical upgrades, and improved accessibility, ensuring optimal conditions for large-scale exhibitions and the conservation of artworks. Completion is scheduled for early 2026, ahead of the Pavilion’s reopening in Venice.
About the Curator and Artists
Diane Lima (b. 1986, Mundo Novo-BA, Brazil) is a curator, researcher, and writer whose work addresses decoloniality and Black feminist thought in contemporary art. She was part of the curatorial collective for the 35th Bienal de São Paulo (2023) and has curated exhibitions, including Paulo Nazareth: Luzia (Museo Tamayo, 2024). The River is a Serpent (Frestas Triennial, 2020/2021). In 2025, she was appointed Deputy Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of documenta and Museum Fridericianum gGmbH in Germany.
Adriana Varejão (b. 1964, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) has developed a practice exploring colonial histories, hybridity, and the plural formation of Brazilian culture. Her work is held in significant international collections, including the Tate Modern, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP).
Rosana Paulino (b. 1967, São Paulo, Brazil) is known for her examination of race, gender, and memory in Brazilian art. Her works are in the collections of MoMA (New York), Tate Modern (London), and Centre Pompidou (Paris). In 2024, she received the MUNCH Award (Norway).
Comigo ninguém pode will represent Brazil at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, held from 9 May to 22 November 2026 at the Brazilian Pavilion, Giardini, Venice, Italy.
