The 36th São Paulo Bienal: paths through Ibirapuera

A path through an exhibition need not resemble a road. The 36th São Paulo Bienal made that distinction part of its title, Nem todo viandante anda estradas, and its approach to artistic and social movement.

WAYFARER’s September 2025 archive followed the opening at the Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung led the curatorial framework, working with Alya Sebti, Anna Roberta Goetz, Keyna Eleison and Thiago de Paula Souza. The account described artists from varied backgrounds entering a conversation about time, movement and the routes through which work meets its audience.

The press presentation took place on 4 September, ahead of the public opening on 6 September. The original programme ran until 11 January 2026, with free admission. Those dates are historical: this page does not imply that the exhibition remains open.

The archive also situated literature, music, criticism and design within the opening gathering. Their overlap was part of the wider institution’s role, beyond the arrangement of individual works.

For an international reader, the Bienal offers a Brazilian setting that is not inward-looking. Ibirapuera supplies the pavilion and city. The curatorial routes connect them to conversations that arrive from, and travel towards, other places.

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Adapted from the WAYFARER Brazil archive, first published 2025-09-08. English adaptation: 6 October 2026. This is an archival account, not a report of a new visit. Exhibitions, collections and menu details are described in their original context, not as current availability.