Bienal de São Paulo, Latin America’s most important biennial, is plowing ahead with plans to mount its main exhibition in September. The biennial revealed an artist list for that show, which is being curated by a team led by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti.
The 91 artists included meditate in their work on what art can do during our challenging moment. The show is titled “Faz Escuro mas eu canto” (“Though it’s dark, still I sing”), a reference to a 1965 poem by Thiago de Mello, and was conceived prior to the onset of the pandemic.
“Throughout these months of work, surrounded by collapses of every sort, we have repeatedly asked ourselves what forms of art and ways of being in the world are possible and necessary now,” the curatorial team wrote in a statement. “As we move through dark times, what songs should we be listening to?”
The Bienal de São Paulo was originally expected to open in 2020. Its main show was delayed by the pandemic, though the biennial went through with a plan to expand its offerings, hosting a series of solo presentation in the run-up to its group exhibition. A solo exhibition of Ximena Garrido-Lecca and a performance by Neo Muyanga kicked off the biennial in 2020, and a group exhibition called “Vento” followed.
