“With this model, I hope to show how artists construct their own lineages and systems to understand their own practice in relation to others, while also allowing the themes and relationships to emerge organically from the process of exhibition‑making, rather than starting with a set of predetermined issues. This choice also reflects a desire to re‑evaluate the tradition of artists as curators, which is a central part of modern and contemporary art history, and also of particular relevance in Brazil, where artists have long organized their own discursive platforms”.

PÉREZ-BARREIRO, Gabriel. “Affective Affinities”. In: Catalogue of the exhibition 33rd Bienal de São Paulo – Affective Affinities. São Paulo: Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, 2018, p.62.

“Perhaps there is no field that better evidences the changes brought about by the curatorial proposal of the 33rd Bienal than that of the educational program, which articulates all the teams of the Fundação, the curatorship and the specialized consultancies. In this edition, research was conducted into theories and practices of attention, of listening, of what there is in terms of common and affection in the contact with art. The educational publication Invitation to Attention moved away from the usual focus on the institutional space of the school and proposed a set of exercises that invite people to experience and to share sustained, self-reflexive practices of attention focused on art objects in various contexts. Throughout 2018, a public program of actions has promoted different formats for the experiencing of this proposal”.

FUNDAÇÃO BIENAL DE SÃO PAULO. “Building the 33rd Bienal”. In: Catalogue of the exhibition 33rd Bienal de São Paulo – Affective Affinities. São Paulo: Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, 2018, p.69.

“Pérez-Barreiro justifies his choice with a phrase attributed to the critic Mário Pedrosa: ‘In times of crisis, stand by the artists’. Or works. And above all give them a chance to reveal what may not yet have a name, has not gone through your head, or does not correspond to what you expected or the consensus and speeches with which you are accustomed. This may give rise to the impression of anachronism, back to a time prior to the hegemony of curatorial projects. In this sense, Waltercio Caldas' exemplary text at the opening of the space he conceived with his works and of artists that make up his elective affinities (or affective, as the malleable borders this Bienal seeks): ‘It is always good to remember that true works of art are oblivious to any discourse that would misrepresent them, and are sufficiently eloquent to deauthorize opportunistic interpretations.’”

CARVALHO, Bernardo. “Seleção da Bienal entende a arte como produtora

de conhecimento e sentido”, Folha de S.P., 23 set. 2018.