Fundação Bienal De São Paulo is Traveling to Bolivia for the First Time

Exhibition view of the work of Colectivo Ayllu during the 35th Bienal de São Paulo – choreographies of the impossible © Fundação Bienal de São Paulo

Fundação Bienal De São Paulo
bienal.org.br

For the first time, the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo’s traveling exhibitions program is coming to the city of La Paz, Bolivia, with a selection of the 35th Bienal de São Paulo – choreographies of the impossible.

Through a partnership with the Government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia and the Fundación Cultural del Banco Central de Bolivia, with the support of the Instituto Guimarães Rosa – MRE, the Museo Nacional de Arte (MNA) will host, from August 16 to October 20, a selection of nine participants who took part in the last edition of the exhibition – held from September 6 to December 10, 2023 – and now are part of the traveling exhibition that has already visited ten cities in Brazil and around the world.

Fundação Bienal de São Paulo has been running the one-of-a-kind traveling Bienal program since 2011, which marked the 29th edition of the show. The international stages of the 2024 traveling exhibitions program mark the first time that the Bienal is shown in Argentina, Bolivia and also the first time it will be seen on the African continent, in Angola.

Participants in the traveling exhibition at the Museo Nacional de Arte (MNA)

Ahlam Shibli
Bouchra Ouizguen
Cabello/Carceller
Carmézia Emiliano
Colectivo Ayllu
Melchor María Mercado
Min Tanaka, François Pain
stanley brouwn
Trinh T. Minh-ha

Curated by Diane Lima, Grada Kilomba, Hélio Menezes and Manuel Borja-Villel, the highlight of this traveling exhibition is Melchor María Mercado (Sucre, Bolivia, 1816-1871), who worked as an artist, educator and, above all, explorer. Known for his interest in the natural sciences, he portrayed Bolivia’s visual landscapes in a plural and sensitive way. Years of field research resulted in the work entitled Álbum de paisajes, tipos humanos y costumbres de Bolivia [Album of Landscapes, Human Types and Customs], which is part of the selection of works taking part in the exhibition in La Paz.

Preserved in the Archivo y Biblioteca Nacionales de Bolivia, the more than one hundred watercolors that make up this cultural inventory were produced between the years 1841 and 1869, in the early years of the Republic of Bolivia. Contrary to traditional historiography, Mercado’s work is a unique graphic testimony about the nature, customs, and society of 19th-century Bolivia, depicting with precision the transition period from a colony to a republic in both the Andean and Amazonian regions.

Self-taught, the work of Melchor María Mercado holds great patrimonial and documentary significance for his country. For this reason, and in the context of the 35th Bienal de São Paulo, the Fundação Bienal had to engage in nearly a year of negotiations with the Bolivian government, mediated by the Instituto Guimarães Rosa, responsible for Brazil’s cultural diplomacy and affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since there was no legal framework for lending historical items to international institutions, a legal structure was created to facilitate the concession. Due to its historical importance and to document and publicize the event, the Fundação Bienal produced a video featuring testimonials from all involved parties and coverage of the transportation and installation process. YouTube link here.

Andrea Pinheiro, president of the Fundação Bienal, emphasizes the importance of the traveling exhibition in La Paz and celebrates the arrival of the 35th Bienal de São Paulo in Bolivia: “It is very significant for us to open this exhibition in Bolivia, especially because we have come closer to Bolivian culture and the Fundación Cultural del Banco Central de Bolivia through the work of Melchor María Mercado over the past year. More than establishing an exchange between cultural institutions, the initiative strengthens the bilateral relationship between neighboring countries and contributes to the internationalization of Brazilian art.”

“It is an honor for the Fundación Cultural del Banco Central de Bolivia to support the itinerancy in La Paz of the 35th Bienal de São Paulo. The unprecedented exhibition of Melchor María Mercado’s original works at the Museo Nacional de Arte will allow the Bolivian public to learn more about the legacy of one of the country’s most notable artists and scientists. The itinerancy in La Paz reaffirms the artistic exchange between art institutions in Latin America, highlighting our times and territories,” analyzes David Aruquipa Pérez, National Head of Cultural Management of the Fundación Cultural del Banco Central de Bolivia.

The 35th Bienal de São Paulo – choreographies of the impossible explores the complexities and urgencies of the contemporary world, addressing social, political, and cultural transformations. The curators seek to stress the spaces between the possible and the impossible, the visible and the invisible, the real and the imaginary, giving voice to diverse issues and perspectives in a poetic manner. Choreography, understood as a set of movements centered on the body that challenges limits, considers various trajectories and areas of action, creating strategies to face institutional and curatorial challenges. The choreographies of the impossible generate their own relationships, times, and spaces, offering a striking experience to visitors.

For the curators, it has always been crucial for the exhibition to reach cities other than São Paulo. According to them, “the debates proposed by the 35th Bienal cross countless territories around the world, so the fact that the choreographies of the impossible are not restricted to the Bienal Pavilion is extremely important for the work carried out”.