Participants in 36th edition 

The Fundação Bienal de São Paulo announces the list of participants in the 36th Bienal de São Paulo, titled Not All Travellers Walk Roads—Of Humanity as Practice. The exhibition will take place from September 6, 2025 to January 11, 2026 at the Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion in São Paulo, with free admission.

Conceptualised by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung—alongside co-curators Alya Sebti, Anna Roberta Goetz, Thiago de Paula Souza, co-curator at large Keyna Eleison, and communications and strategy advisor Henriette Gallus—the 36th Bienal is inspired by the poem “Da calma e do silêncio” (Of Calm and Silence) by poet Conceição Evaristo. It is founded on active listening to humanity as a practice of constant displacement, encounter, and negotiation.

The participating artists for the 36th Bienal de São Paulo are: Adama Delphine Fawundu; Adjani Okpu-Egbe; Aislan Pankararu; Akinbode Akinbiyi; Alain Padeau; Alberto Pitta; Aline Baiana; Amina Agueznay; Ana Raylander Mártis dos Anjos; Andrew Roberts; Antonio Társis; Behjat Sadr; Berenice Olmedo; Bertina Lopes; Camille Turner; Carla Gueye; Cevdet Erek; Chaïbia Talal; Christopher Cozier; Cici Wu; Cynthia Hawkins; Edival Ramosa; Emeka Ogboh; Ernest Cole; Ernest Mancoba; Farid Belkahia; Firelei Báez; Forensic Architecture; Forugh Farrokhzad; Frank Bowling; Frankétienne; Gê Viana; Gervane de Paula; Gōzō Yoshimasu; Hajra Waheed; Hamedine Kane; Hamid Zénati; Hao Jingban; Heitor dos Prazeres; Helena Uambembe; Hessie (Carmen Lydia Đurić); Huguette Caland; I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih (Murni); Imran Mir; Isa Genzken; Joar Nango with the Girjegumpi crew; Josèfa Ntjam; Juliana dos Santos; Julianknxx; Kader Attia; Kamala Ibrahim Ishag; Kenzi Shiokava; Korakrit Arunanondchai; Laila Hida; Laure Prouvost; Leiko Ikemura; Leila Alaoui; Leo Asemota; Leonel Vásquez; Lidia Lisbôa; Lynn Hershman Leeson; Madame Zo; Madiha Umar; Malika Agueznay; Manauara Clandestina; Mansour Ciss Kanakassy; Mao Ishikawa; Márcia Falcão; Maria Auxiliadora; María Magdalena Campos-Pons; Marlene Almeida; Maxwell Alexandre; Meriem Bennani; Metta Pracrutti; Michele Ciacciofera; Ming Smith; Minia Biabiany; Moffat Takadiwa; Mohamed Melehi; Moisés Patrício; Myriam Omar Awadi; Myrlande Constant; Nádia Taquary; Nari Ward; Nguyễn Trinh Thi; Noor Abed; Nzante Spee; Olivier Marboeuf; Olu Oguibe; Oscar Murillo; Otobong Nkanga; Pélagie Gbaguidi; Pol Taburet; Precious Okoyomon; Raukura Turei; Raven Chacon with Iggor Cavalera & Laima Leyton; Rebeca Carapiá; Richianny Ratovo; Ruth Ige; Sadikou Oukpedjo; Sallisa Rosa; Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide); Sérgio Soarez; Sertão Negro; Sharon Hayes; Shuvinai Ashoona; Simnikiwe Buhlungu; Song Dong; Suchitra Mattai; Tanka Fonta; Thania Petersen; Theo Eshetu; Théodore Diouf; Theresah Ankomah; Trương Công Tùng; Tuần Andrew Nguyễn; Vilanismo; Werewere Liking; Wolfgang Tillmans; Zózimo Bulbul. 

Another five participants will take part in the 36th Bienal in the Tributaries program at Casa do Povo, curated by Benjamin Seroussi and Daniel Blanga Gubbay: Alexandre Paulikevitch; Boxe Autônomo; Dorothée Munyaneza; Marcelo Evelin; MEXA. 

The conceptual team was inspired by bird migration patterns as a methodological guide for selecting participants. These birds’ precise cross-continental and cross-climate zone trajectories serve as a metaphor for curatorship itself: like birds, we carry memories, experiences, and languages across borders. We migrate not only out of necessity but also as a form of continuous transformation. 

“This methodological process helped us avoid classifications based on nation-states and borders. By studying birds’ navigation skills, their impulse to migrate across land and water, their survival instincts, their expanded sense of space and time, and their urgency and agency, we were able to engage with artistic practices in different geographic regions while reflecting on the meaning of bringing humanity together in the context of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo,” says Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung.

Exhibition project of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo
The architectural and exhibition design is signed by Gisele de Paula and Tiago Guimarães. The exhibition design evokes the fluid and transformative nature of rivers. Organic forms, and lightweight structures compose a sensory landscape. The project also counted with initial architectural advisory by Agence Clémence Farrell.