Alongside the announcement of the new exhibition Vento [Wind], the 34th Bienal de São Paulo online program has been substantially extended in response to the postponement of the larger group show until 2021 (4 September – 5 December 2021). The expansion of its digital activities is in keeping with the original curatorial project, which from the very beginning proposed to unravel as an open rehearsal and to be constantly open to public reflection. 

Newly announced participant artists are: Jaune Quick-to-see (1940, Montana, USA), Lydia Ourahmane (1992, Saïda, Algeria), Naomi Rincon Gallardo (1979, North Carolina, USA), Sebastián Calfuqueo Aliste (1991, Santiago, Chile), Sung Tieu (1987, Vietnam) and Uýra Sodoma (1991, Santarém, Brazil) – all of whom featured in the A Bienal tá on [The Bienal is on] digital program throughout the coming months.

Activities spanning November 2020 – February 2021 are:

_Studio visits: once a month, from September 2020 to August 2021, artists from the 34th Bienal will open their studios and speak about their trajectories, the works they are producing for the Bienal and their current research, beginning with questions and provocations set forward by the curatorial team. The bilingual videos will be shown on Bienal Instagram (@bienalsaopaulo) and will be available on Bienal website at http://34.bienal.org.br/. Participating artists from the program between October and December 2020 are Juraci Dórea (October 28), Joan Jonas (November 18) and Alice Shintani (December 16). The 2021 program starts with the studio visits of Uýra Sodoma (January 27) and Naomi Rincon Gallardo (February 24). 

_Encounters with artists – The voices of the artists #2: Tikmũ’ũn chants: in this six-part series the curators of the 34th Bienal de São Paulo talk with participant artists from Brazil and abroad about the statements proposed by the curatorial team to be explored through this edition: elements with dense stories that suggest multifaceted readings. The second meeting happens on November 26 and addresses Tikmũ’ũn chants, a statement that will be presented in Vento [Wind]. The event will feature the live participation of Jaider Esbell and pre-recorded interviews with the newly announced artists Jaune Quick-to-see, Sebastián Calfuqueo Aliste and Sung Tieu.

_Distance learning short course: each discussion about the statements is followed by a short course consisting of 4 virtual meetings (with 1h30 long each) which will deepen the topics previously explored,  presenting unpublished excerpts from interviews with artists and speakers, bibliographic references and other research materials. Sessions are led by the Fundação Bienal team via their digital platform. The distance learning short course on the Tikmũ’ũn chants will be held from 1 – 10 December, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. To participate, registration beforehand is required, through the website 34.bienal.org.br/agenda (from November 23). Portuguese only.

_Reporting the 34th Bienal: as long as cultural spaces remain open and the exhibitions of the 34th Bienal partners are going ahead, the Fundação Bienal, in partnership with Arte que Acontece (AQA), will cover each opening in video, as well as interview curators, artists, and other important figures of each exhibition. The content will be live broadcast via the Bienal Instagram page, then subsequently turned into bilingual video reports which will be available on the 34.bienal.org.br and the AQA websites. The exhibition Antonio Dias: Derrotas e vitórias, at MAM SP, has inaugurated the series.  

Curatorial correspondences, open letters written by the curators and other invited guests of the Bienal which reflect directly or indirectly on the development of the exhibition, will continue to be sent out through the duration of the program. Artist Lydia Ourahmane, will be the author of the December correspondence. Besides that, a miniguide of the participants of the 34th Bienal is published on Instagram stories and will continue to be updated until 2021. 

The program for March to September 2021 will be announced in 2021.

The Bienal is on

To increase the visibility of its online program and maximise audience engagement, advertising agency iD\TBWA has developed for the Fundação Bienal as a pro bono partnership, a campaign called A Bienal tá on [The Bienal is on]. The campaign includes online and offline actions to publicize the initiatives developed on the internet by the Fundação, who is a digital pioneer amongst Brazilian cultural institutions. More information on these initiatives can be found on bienal.org.br/taon (Portuguese only).

The institution first established its digital presence in 1996, with the website for the 23rd Bienal. Since then, its activity in the field has continually expanded and today it possesses a rich array of  assets that include numerous São Paulo Bienal websites, digital versions of all the publications produced throughout the Bienal’s history, virtual visits of previous exhibitions, hundreds of videos, audios and even apps, in addition to the Wanda Svevo Historical Archive online database that contains over 250,000 documents on the history of the Bienal. All of these have been available on  the Portal Bienal since 2002, and part of this content is occasionally shared through the Fundação social media platforms and newsletters.  

34ª Bienal de São Paulo – Though it’s dark, still I sing

Digital program

Performance of Paulo Nazareth [A] LA FLEUR DE LA PEAU [[ON] THE FLOWER OF SKIN]
13 November 2020
Online only at 6pm São Paulo time (GMT-3) / 5pm New York and Mexico City (ET) /9pm London (GMT) / 10pm Central European time (CET)
Livestreamed on the Bienal Instagram

Studio visit: Joan Jonas
18 November 2020, Wednesday, 11am São Paulo time (GMT-3)
IGTV Instagram
@bienalsaopaulo 

Encounters with artists – The voices of the artists #2: Tikmũ’ũn chants
Jaider Esbell, Jaune Quick-to-see, Sebastián Calfuqueo Aliste and Sung Tieu<
26 November 2020, Thursday, 7pm São Paulo time (GMT-3)
Registration opens on 16 November, via the website 34.bienal.org.br/agenda 
Free entry

Distance learning short course on the Tikmũ’ũn chants
1 December – 10 December 2020
Tuesdays and Thursdays (1 December and 3 December, 8 December and 10 December), 7pm São Paulo time (GMT-3)
Registration opens 23 November,via the website 34.bienal.org.br/agenda 
80 seats
Free entry

Studio visit: Alice Shintani

16 December 2020, Wednesday, 11am São Paulo time (GMT-3)
IGTV Instagram @bienalsaopaulo 

Studio visit: Naomi Rincon Gallardo

27 January 2021, Wednesday, 11am São Paulo time (GMT-3)
IGTV Instagram @bienalsaopaulo 

Studio visit: Uýra Sodoma
24 February 2021, Wednesday, 11am São Paulo time (GMT-3)
IGTV Instagram @bienalsaopaulo