“Not every traveler walks roads, there are submerged worlds that only the silence of poetry can penetrate.” This excerpt from the poem “Of Calm and Silence,” by Conceição Evaristo, is the source of the title for the 36th São Paulo Biennial: Not every traveler walks roads – Of humanity as practice.
With a concept created by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung , alongside co-curators Alya Sebti, Anna Roberta Goetz and Thiago de Paula Souza , co-curator at large Keyna Eleison and communication and strategy consultant Henriette Gallus , the next edition, which starts this Saturday (6) and runs until January 11, 2026, delves into reflections on detachment and encounter, on the power asymmetries that still persist, and on how cultures can overcome traumas and reimagine human relationships.
