The 36th Bienal de São Paulo, entitled Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice, will be curated by Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung with co-curators Alya Sebti, Anna Roberta Goetz, and Thiago de Paula Souza, joined by Keyna Eleison and Henriette Gallus. Inspired by Conceição Evaristo’s poem Da calma e do silêncio [Of calm and silence], the Bienal proposes humanity not as a fixed condition but as a verb, a living practice.

Marking a historic shift, this edition extends beyond the Bienal’s traditional three-month duration, running from 6 September 2025 to 11 January 2026. Guided by the metaphor of the estuary—a place where different currents converge—it reflects on Brazil’s histories and philosophies to imagine humanity as a practice of listening, negotiation, and coexistence.

Structured in three curatorial fragments, the exhibition reclaims space and time, invites reflection on self and other, and emphasises spaces of encounter. These perspectives echo in the selection of artists such as Hessie (1933–2017), whose pioneering textile practice transformed humble materials like fabric, thread and packaging into minimalist yet vivid compositions. Through works like her Végétations series, where thread patterns evoke microscopic cellular life, Hessie blurred the lines between art and science while elevating sewing and embroidery as subversive, feminist forms. Her slow, deliberate processes and use of salvaged materials resonate with themes of labour, sustainability, and collective memory—an estuary of intimacy and resistance that aligns with the Bienal’s call to rethink humanity as an ongoing practice.

Around 120 artists will join Hessie in shaping this edition of the Bienal de São Paulo.

* Text from the Bienal de São Paulo website.