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Original article: La Bienal de São Paulo aterriza en Chile con más de 110 obras de artistas de cuatro continentes

The exhibition, showcasing a selection from the 36th edition of the largest contemporary art event in the southern hemisphere, will be available for free at the La Moneda Cultural Center from July to October.

The exhibition No Traveler Walks Alone – Humanity as Practice, part of the 36th São Paulo Biennial, will be free to the public at the La Moneda Cultural Center from July 3 to October 4. This show invites visitors to consider humanity as a constantly evolving practice.

Importantly, Chile’s capital will serve as the first international stop and the only one in South America. The exhibition features over 110 works by 19 artists from four continents and is part of an international tour that has already visited various cities in Brazil, including Fortaleza, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Brasília, and Curitiba, before heading to Mexico and Berlin.

Additionally, the exhibition is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the São Paulo Biennial Foundation, reinforcing the role of La Moneda Cultural Center as a hub for international cultural exchange.

A Biennial Encouraging a Reevaluation of Humanity

For seven decades, the São Paulo Biennial has established itself as one of the leading international platforms for contemporary visual culture, integrating transdisciplinary approaches that connect art, ecology, anthropology, and technology, while playing a key role in showcasing Latin American artists on global stages.

The upcoming 36th edition, running from September 6, 2025, to January 11, 2026, at the Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion, is set to be the largest in its history. Under the general curation of Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, a Cameroonian philosopher and director of the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, the exhibition poses a long-standing yet relevant question: What does it mean to be human?

The focus of this exhibition encourages contemplation on current interpretations of humanity. The curatorial proposal suggests that humanity is not a fixed condition but a practice shaped through relationships, memory, social interaction, and the recognition of human dignity.

Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, the general curator of the 36th São Paulo Biennial and the curator of the traveling exhibition in Santiago, expressed that bringing this program to Chile provides an opportunity for universal dialogue regarding the human condition. He also pointed out that Chile shares a history marked by processes of exclusion and deprivation of rights with many other nations.

“Thus, the question of how to harmonize humanity is crucial, particularly in terms of belonging, memory, and human dignity. This is not merely a visitation; this is a conversation that has been underway for a long time, started by Indigenous peoples, enslaved individuals, economically and socially oppressed populations, and many others who stood in solidarity with them,” he stated.

Additionally, the image guiding this edition is that of an estuary, where various water flows converge, creating a space of coexistence. This concept is inspired by Brazilian philosophies, landscapes, and mythologies, reflecting the diverse encounters that have shaped Brazil’s history. The title comprises verses from poet Conceição Evaristo, taken from Da calma e do silêncio, published in 1990.

Artists from Four Continents Arrive in Santiago

Featured artists include Ernest Cole (South Africa, 1940–1990), who clandestinely photographed apartheid in the 1960s. Exiled in 1966, Cole died anonymously in New York City, and his negatives remained in a Swedish bank vault for years.

Once his works were discovered, they were included in collections at MoMA in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Tate Modern. Now, his photographs will be showcased in the Andes Room at the La Moneda Cultural Center, alongside over 110 pieces that encompass photography, text, ceramics, painting, installations, assemblages, and sculptures by artists from Africa, Asia, Europe, and Brazil.

Other notable works include those by Myrlande Constant (1968, Port-au-Prince), whose focus is on the drapo vodou, a large embroidered banner used within Haitian popular religiosity.

Behjat Sadr (1924–2009) will present paintings featuring kaleidoscopic optical effects created with aluminum sheets and Venetian blinds. Additionally, Akinbode Akinbiyi (Oxford, 1946, now living in Berlin) will showcase a photographic essay on life in the Bom Retiro neighborhood, documenting activities like a chess club, Yiddish choir rehearsals, boxing training, and graphic arts workshops.

Furthermore, the exhibition will include works by Edival Ramos (São Gonçalo, 1940–2015), a pivotal figure in Brazilian geometric abstraction, who developed sculptures of spheres, columns, moons, and arrows, referred to as “form-objects,” constructed over more than five decades of travels throughout Egypt, Europe, and Brazil.

The showcase will also feature works from Juliana dos Santos, Alberto Pitta, Aline Baiana, Gervane de Paula, Sérgio Soarez, and Ana Raylander Mártis dos Anjos, along with other Brazilian creators and international figures such as Malika Agueznay, Mao Ishikawa, Imran Mir, Julianknxx, Théodore Diouf, Forugh Farrokhzad, and the collective Forensic Architecture/Forensis.

The Return of the São Paulo Biennial to Chile

The connection between this exhibition and Chile began in the early 2000s when Francisco Brugnoli was director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chile, securing initiatives to bring a traveling segment of the Biennial to the country.

In this context, the museum hosted three versions: the 25th edition (2002), Europe-America, which turned into a social phenomenon by gathering over 17,000 individuals at Parque Forestal to witness Spencer Tunick’s intervention. This was followed by Image Smugglers (2005), featuring Chilean artists Patrick Hamilton and Eugenio Dittborn; and How to Live Together (2007), which included 197 works from 26 artists across 22 countries.

Later, in 2022, the National Contemporary Art Center of Cerrillos showcased It Gets Dark but I Sing, an exhibition curated by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti that included over fifty works from thirteen artists, including Seba Calfuqueo and Alfredo Jaar.

Now, the São Paulo Biennial returns to one of the country’s primary cultural venues: the La Moneda Cultural Center, located beneath the Government Palace, right in the heart of the Cultural Network Alameda axis. Having opened 20 years ago as a meeting point for various cultures, the venue has gained prestige, earning the trust of institutions like London’s Tate Modern, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, and the Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires (MALBA) to host their collections in Santiago.

Regarding this, Andrea Pinheiro, president of the São Paulo Biennial Foundation, stated, “Returning to Chile with the 36th Biennial demonstrates the consistency and importance of the touring program to solidify dialogues between institutions and audiences in Latin America. The La Moneda Cultural Center is a fundamental ally in this process, and bringing the exhibition back to Santiago recognizes the vitality of the Chilean artistic circuit and its relevance to the conversations the São Paulo Biennial proposes about contemporary art.”

Meanwhile, Felipe Bascuñán, the acting executive director of the La Moneda Cultural Center, commented, «Having that spirit arrive at the La Moneda Cultural Center seems, in itself, a declaration since culture and education are the dimensions in which society learns to recognize itself. Mediation and educational extensions do not emerge as parallel or accessory; rather, they are fundamental as they allow culture and art to transform into a collective and meaningful experience.”

A Program to Bridge Art to the Community

In addition to the circulation of artworks, the exhibition will be accompanied by a public program carried out in partnership with the São Paulo Biennial Foundation, UNESCO, the National Historical Museum, and other cultural and educational institutions. Some of the program will focus on training mediators, educators, and cultural managers during a day of educational methodologies led by the Biennial team.

Moreover, the event will feature a number of activities tailored for all types of audiences, including a meeting with head curator Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung on July 7 to delve into the conceptual foundations of the exhibition; a guided visit engaging with Afro-descendant, Haitian, and migrant communities, alongside a tour of Santiago’s civic center aimed at identifying and tracing the marks of Afro-descendant presence in Chile.

Finally, among the highlights of the event will be a dance activation planned in Arica from September 3 to 6, where movement and Afro-descendant memory will converge in one of the locations with the most ancient and active Afro presence in the country, extending the Biennial beyond the gallery and seeking to connect with local communities.

Thus, the exhibition not only brings a selection of internationally significant works to Chile but also opens a space for connection and reflection on diversity, memory, and various interpretations of humanity.

Image Credits: © Natt Fejfar / Fundação Bienal de São Paulo.

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