The Fundação Bienal has announced the 120 participating artists for the upcoming 36th Bienal de São Paulo in Brazil. The Bienal, titled Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice, opens Sept. 6 and runs through Jan. 11, 2026, with free admission at the Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion in São Paulo.
Among the artists selected for this year’s edition are four CalArts alums: Noor Abed (Art MFA 15), Raven Chacon (Music MFA 04), Tuan Andrew Nguyen (Art MFA 04), and the late Kenzi Shiokava (Chouinard 72).
The exhibition is curated by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, with co-curators Alya Sebti, Anna Roberta Goetz, Thiago de Paula Souza, and Keyna Eleison, and strategic advisor Henriette Gallus. The Bienal centers on active listening to “humanity as practice” and is inspired by the poem “Da calma e do silêncio” by Conceição Evaristo.
Curators adopted migratory bird patterns as a methodology, drawing symbolic connections between cross-continental flight paths and artistic practices that traverse political, social, and cultural boundaries. “This methodological process helped us avoid classifications based on nation-states and borders,” said Ndikung in a statement. “By studying birds’ navigation skills… 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.”
About the Featured CalArtians:
Abed is a multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker whose work explores the politics of choreography and the performative nature of social life. Her films often stage imagined or speculative scenarios where communal action becomes both ritual and rehearsal.
Chacon, a composer and visual artist from the Navajo Nation, is known for his expansive sonic and installation practice. In 2022, he won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his composition Voiceless Mass. His work has been presented at major institutions including MoMA PS1, LACMA, and the Whitney Biennial.
Based primarily in Saigon, Nguyen’s practice explores memory as a form of political resistance. Working across video and sculpture, Nguyen collaborates with communities affected by colonialism, displacement, and war, using storytelling to confront historical erasure and imagine alternate futures.
Shiokava (1938–2021) was a Japanese Brazilian sculptor and assemblage artist based in Los Angeles. His work, rooted in spirituality and cultural hybridity, drew from his experiences as an immigrant and longtime resident of South Central Los Angeles. Known for his carved totems and layered assemblages made from found materials, Shiokava gained wider recognition later in life, notably following his breakout showing in the 2016 Made in L.A. biennial at the Hammer Museum.
For more information and the full list of participating artists, visit bienal.org.br.
