Gestures of Abundance

Walk&Talk announces the program for Gestures of Abundance—the inaugural edition of its biennial in the Azores.

The first edition of Walk&Talk—Bienal de Artes transforms the island of São Miguel into a territory in motion from September 25 to November 30, 2025, with exhibitions, performances, music, gatherings, and multiple formats open to participation. Activated by a continuous program of public activities—including excursions, walks, talks, presentations, and parties—the Biennial’s rhythm is marked by three key moments: the Opening (September 25–30), the Symposium (November 7–9), and the Closing (November 28–30).

Theme
Gestures of Abundance proposes a shift from scarcity to abundance as a way of being—cultivating practices that regenerate rather than extract, listen rather than impose, and connect rather than isolate. It frames abundance as both ethical stance and political position, affirming art as a space to rehearse alternative forms of coexistence rooted in interdependence between humans, territories, and more-than-human worlds. Through creation, research, education, and sharing, the program embraces the abundance already present, and invites its collective experience.

Curated by Claire Shea, Fatima Bintou Rassoul Sy, Jesse James, and Liliana Coutinho, in dialogue with the organisation’s teams, the Biennial unfolds as a shared and attentive process. It brings together 18 new commissions developed in residence in the Azores, alongside existing works and projects that activate an ecology of practices, ideas, and relationships.

Exhibition 
The exhibition unfolds across multiple spaces, forming an open itinerary where ideas, practices, and voices intersect. New commissions appear alongside works by other artists and pieces from regional collections, exploring different dimensions of the Biennial’s theme and territory: the sea as a living and political archive; the earth as a relational and vibrant body; the pedagogical gesture as an insurgent practice; care, orality, and resistance as embodied knowledge; the invisible as a poetic and spiritual language; the body as a place of listening and inscription.

New Commissions: Alice Visentin, Colectiva Malva, Ebun Sodipo, Helle Siljeholm, Inês Coelho da Silva & Kita Rancaño Ward, Janilda Bartolomeu, Joana Sá, Jokkoo Collective, José Pedro Cortes, Lucy Bleach, Mae-Ling Lokko, Malala Andrialavidrazana, Maria Emanuel Albergaria, Meg Stuart & PACAP, Nadia Belerique, Resolve Collective, Rafa Bqueer & Soya the Cow, Walla Capelobo.

Works: Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka, Ana Vieira, Beatriz Brum, César Schofield Cardoso, Cian Dayrit, Enar de Dioz Rodrigues, Galla Porras-Kim, Isabel Medeiros, Jane Jin Kaisen, Joana Albuquerque, Mirna Bamieh, Silvia Mariotti, Sofia Rocha.

Symposium
From November 7 to 9, the symposium gathers artists, researchers, and thinkers whose practices explore ways of living, creating, and learning in common. Centred on the theme Gestures of Abundance, it offers space for reflection, shared practices, and imagination—envisioning other ways of inhabiting the present and conceiving possible futures. With Apolo de Carvalho, Candace Fujikane, Candice Lin, César Schofield Cardoso, Cooking Sections, Maria Emanuel Albergaria, Mirna Bamieh, Sónia Vaz Borges, Teresa de Castro & Coletivo Guarda Rios, and performances by Joana Sá and Colectiva Malva.

Music, sound and performance
The Biennial is also articulated through music and sound, with alys(alys)alys, AMEMO, Bonaventure, Cosmica Bandida, Haseeb Iqbal, Jokkoo Collective, ketia, MC Falcona, Odete, Piel Mixta, Santiago Latorre, Tina Tornade, Valle, Velhacos, Vera Dvale, Wutangu, and Zelecta; performances by Mariana Pacheco Medeiros and Margarida Andrade; and film screenings, performative dinners (Catarina Ferreira & Paula Aguiar—Geo Foods), rituals, and parties, that reinforce the event's collective and affective spirit.

 TUNING IN—mediation program
Structured around four gestures, the Biennial's mediation program fosters shared experiences between art, community, and territory. It includes workshops with schools, collectives, and institutions (Germinate), with contributions from AND Lab, Catarina Fernandes, Coletivo Guarda Rios, Isabel Costa / Os Possessos, and Projeto Transmalhar. The program also includes excursions with artists and local knowledge-holders (Gather), guided exhibition visits (Attend), and long-term community projects encouraging creative participation and belonging (Stay).

Explore the full program: walktalkazores.org

Press
For press information, images or interview requests please contact Aviva Obst: aviva@avivaobst.pt