An Auditory and Performative Journey Through Humanity as Practice
Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Untitled from the series The Rise of the Butterflies, 2021. Mixed media: archival digital inkjet prints, watercolor, ink, gouache, gum arabic, BFK archival paper, 10 panels at 104,1 x 73,7 cm each. Image courtesy of the artist and Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin.
The 36th Bienal de São Paulo, titled Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice, launches on 6 September 2025 at the Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park and continues until 11 January 2026 with free admission. This edition invites visitors to experience humanity as an active verb—through encounters, performances, dialogue, and collective presence.
Structured around the Bienal’s public programming—Conjugations, Apparitions, and a vibrant schedule of live events—the opening weekend serves as a compelling gateway into the broader, unfolding narrative.
Opening Weekend Highlights – 5 & 6 September 2025
5–6 September – “Tributary – Performance – Batucada” by Marcelo Evelin, nightly at 8 pm, welcomes audiences into the Pavilion with the pulsating communal rhythms of Afro-Brazilian batucada.
6 September (Saturday)
- Presentation by Simon Njami, 10:30 am–12:30 pm—an incisive talk by the renowned curator and scholar of contemporary African art.
Conjugations Program (a constellation of global institutions and artists)—multiple events unfold in parallel:
- “A Sound Answers a sound” (11:30 am–1:30 pm) featuring Ryan C. Clarke, JJJJJerome Ellis, and Kite, hosted by CARA (Centre for Art, Research and Alliances, New York)—a sonic ritual blending stuttering, ecological memory, and collective resonance.
- TAF Conversation (1 pm–3 pm) brings together Xiaoyu Weng, Trinh Thi Nguyễn, Putu Sridiniari, Julia Bryan-Wilson, Korakrit Arunanondchai, and Trương Công Tùng, under the banner of the Tanoto Art Foundation, exploring themes of sensory intelligence and material traditions.
- “The smell of the earth after the fire…” by Myriam Omar Awadi (1:30–2:30 pm), weaving scent and memory into spatial experience.
- Fondation H Talk (2:30–3:30 pm), a panel with Hobisoa Raininoro, Myriam Omar Awadi, and Sumesh Sharma, focusing on the cultural memory in Madagascar’s lamba textiles.
- “Várzea: spaces for relief” (2:30–4:30 pm) by Spatial Strategies, Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin, reimagines the floodplain (várzea) as a generative space through evolving soundscapes.
Additional moments:
- A performance titled “Nothing Will Remain Other than the Thorn Lodged in the Throat of this World” by Noor Abed & Haig Aivazian at 3 pm.
- Performance: “Manauara Clandestina”, 3:30–4:30 pm.
- Welcome Address by the Fundação Bienal team and a musical presentation by Coral Jovem Heliópolis (4:30–5:30 pm).
- Presentation by Conceição Evaristo, 5:30–6:30 pm.
- Concert by Mateus Aleluia, 6:30–7:30 pm.
Activations running through Sunday include Oscar Murillo’s “A song to a tearful garden” and Vilanismo’s “I don’t know what fraternal oaths the boys made.”
Sunday, 7 September – A Festival of Sound, Movement, and Dialogues
- Talk featuring Ladan Osman, Panashe Chigumadzi, and Andrew Maerkle (10:30–11:30 am).
- “Templo da Água: Rio Tietê” by Leonel Vásquez & Esmeralda Ramírez of Werewere Group (10:30–11:30 am).
- Performance by Werewere Liking (12:30–1:30 pm).
- Tambor de Crioula from Mestre Apolônio’s Floresta (11:30 am–1:30 pm).
- “The Flow of Life” by Léna Blou (2:30–3 pm).
- Conjugation sessions:
- “Radio Play: This Breath Is a Lifeworld” by Raziyah Heath, Qiaochu Guo, Sophia Mitiku, Gery Mendes (1–3 pm) orchestrated by Metro54 (Amsterdam).
- “The Octopus Will Outlive the Tides” by SAVVY Contemporary (Berlin) (4–6 pm).
- Performance by Alain Padeau (3–4 pm).
- Musical Performance by Dom Salvador (5:30–6:30 pm).
- Activation: “Sertão em nós: Reverberations of the Sertão Negro Artist Residency Program” (12:30–2:30 pm).
Monday, 8 September – A Continuation of Cross-Cultural Exchange
- Screening & Talk: Streams of Images / Imaginaries, followed by a discussion with Débora Butruce, Heitor Augusto, and Thomas Sparfel (2:30–5 pm).
- Talk by poet and publisher Rodney Saint-Éloi (3–4 pm).
- Performance: Salesman of Revolt / Le ventre de l’Atlantique by Hamedine Kane, with Célia Reis, Jair Guilherme Filho, Cleide Aparecida Vitorino, Rodney Saint‑Éloi, and Saliou Seck (4–5 pm).
- Musical Performance by María Magdalena Campos‑Pons & Kamaal Malak (5–6 pm).
Beyond the Opening Weekend: Expanding the Bienal Experience
While the initial days are densely packed with live programming, the Bienal extends through January with further Conjugations events, an augmented reality initiative called Apparitions via WAVA, and an evolving timeline of performances, lectures, and activations.
Why This Matters
The 36th Bienal de São Paulo transforms presence into ritual. It amplifies voices from around the world, creating a kind of embodied cartography through sound, gesture, conversation, and ritual. Whether through sonic performances or intimate talks, each event calls on visitors to embody empathy and co-creation. In doing so, the Bienal enacts humanity—not as a passive state, but as an active practice.
