ONLINE PROGRAM THROUGH ZOOM

Members’ Virtual Tour of the 34th Bienal de São Paulo – Though it’s dark, still I sing

Ana Roman, assistant curator of the 34th Bienal de São Paulo

Art Seminar Group invites you to join us for a virtual tour of the 34th Bienal de São Paulo. The 34th Bienal de São Paulo gathers more than 1100 works by 91 artists from 39 countries. Its curatorial project proposes to structure the show based on the concept of “relation.” Inspired by the reflections of Édouard Glissant (Martinique, 1928 – France, 2011), who took the Poetics of Relation as one of the central points of his philosophy, and by the analyses of the Amerindian worldview developed in recent decades by Eduardo Viveiros de Castro (Brazil, 1951), the 34th Bienal states that it is necessary to abandon narrow and monolithic viewpoints to become open to the multiplicity of possible relations under constant evolution. In the polarized context in Brazil and worldwide today, these lessons become urgent and necessary.

Seen more as a statement than a theme, the title of the 34th Bienal de São Paulo is a line from a poem by Thiago de Mello (Brazil, 1926), published in 1965. In his work, the poet speaks clearly about the problems and hopes of millions of men and women around the world: “Hope is universal, the social inequalities are also universal (…). We are at a moment at which the apocalypse is gaining on utopia. For some time now I have made the choice: (...) I’m staying with utopia,” the writer says. The 34th Bienal recognizes the state of anxiety of the contemporary world while underscoring the possibility of the existence of art as a gesture of resilience, hope and communication.

Members-only program, no fee