Titled Souffles: On Deep Listening and Active Reception, the first Invocation of the 36th Bienal focuses on the circularity as well as the precarity of breath, Gnawa music as a way of being, Sufi cultures, and listening as a practice of coexistence, as well as place- and space-making.

The gathering is conceived by the 36th Bienal’s conceptual team in collaboration with LE 18 and the Fondation Dar Bellarj, as part of their curatorial practices of exploring sound and music as channels of knowledge.

Marrakech is a crossroads of cultures, belief systems and languages, with much of its vast knowledge being transmitted through sound and gesture. The first Invocation explores how these sonic (oral and aural) traditions are enacted, preserved and passed down. The ancient practices of deep listening – from the performative rituals of Gnawa brotherhood to the oral tradition of Halqa in North African theater forms– serve as the starting point for this edition.

The title is borrowed from Souffles, a poem by Birago Diop, on the potential of listening to a plethora of beings — animate and inanimate —, but also a pioneering magazine that dared to envision liberation and emancipatory political imaginaries through poetry and experimentation with language. Founded in Morocco in 1966 and inspired by thinkers such as Frantz Fanon, Mário de Andrade and René Depestre, it was one of the few to document these oral traditions until its last issue in 1971.

For Souffles: On Deep Listening and Active Reception, a group of cultural practitioners from different disciplines, such as writers,  musicians, artists, poets, performers, as well as scientists, were invited to contribute to the discursive and performative program. It will also investigate how these traditions have been accessed and preserved in different media over the years, including publications.

The program is divided into two days, November 14 and 15, the first based on the spiritual practice of listening to rhythm and its resonance in the body, and the second focused on breathing to create and claim spaces and existence, and on the legacy of Souffles magazine.

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Continuing the series of Invocations, a sequence of programs traveling through four cities worldwide in anticipation of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo, the project arrives in Guadeloupe, a territory in Central America. This edition, titled Bigidi mè pa tonbé! [Totter, but never fall!], will be held from December 5 to 7 at Lafabri’k, a space led by choreographer, anthropologist, and educator Dr. Léna Blou, with dance as its central theme.

The core concept of this Invocation stems from bigidi, core element of the Guadeloupean dance gwoka. This dance, characterized by improvisation, alternates between moments of rupture and continuity in a constant effort to maintain balance. Léna Blou, a leading authority on this tradition, identifies bigidi and its mode of moving as the essential nature of the Caribbean being, which, in her words, “knows how to stabilize instability and transform disharmony into harmony.” Blou is also the creator of Bigidi’art, a concept linking dance to a life philosophy that embraces impermanence and adaptability as forms of survival and cultural resistance.

The Invocation features an extensive program bringing together twelve participants from diverse disciplines, including dance, music, poetry, visual arts, and sciences. Through performances, lectures, and workshops, they will share interdisciplinary approaches to the event’s central theme.

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The 36th Bienal de São Paulo continues its global journey with its third Invocation, titled Mawali–Taqsim: Improvisation as a Space and Technology of Humanity, which will take place in Zanzibar from February 11th to 13th, 2025. The Invocation will be hosted at Maru Maru Hotel and Golden Tulip Stonetown Boutique, with the Dhow Countries Music Academy (DCMA) as a partner institution. 

The Invocation in Zanzibar focuses on the philosophical and artistic dimensions of Taarab, a musical genre that epitomizes the island’s cultural hybridity and resonates as a profound medium for expression, sentiment, and resilience. Improvisation, a fundamental part of Taarab music, offers a profound metaphor for human adaptability and interconnectedness.

Echoing the complexities of Zanzibar’s history – a crossroads of African, Arabic, Asian, and European influences – the third Invocation offers the possibility of reflecting on nuances and accents of humanity on an island that is a point of intersection of multiple cultures, philosophies, sciences. In the words of Djibril Diop Mambéty, art serves as “the grammar of our grandmothers,” and Taarab embodies this ethos through its eclectic blend of musical instruments, poetic lyrics, and improvisational techniques. Zanzibar’s cultural tapestry, reflected in its language, Swahili, and its emblematic Taarab music, provides the setting for this Invocation. 

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After three editions that toured different continents and waters, dialogued with local knowledge and practices in Marrakech, Guadaloupe, and Zanzibar, the 36th Bienal de São Paulo concludes its Invocations cycle in Tokyo – meetings that precede the exhibition and promote interdisciplinary dialogues about art, culture, and society in different geographical and historical contexts. Entitled Bukimi no Tani (不気味の谷): The Uncanny Valley – The Affectivity of the Humanoid, the program takes place between April 12 and 14, 2025 and explores the complex relationship between humans and machines through sound, performance, and visual practices. The program is co-organized by the Bienal’s conceptual team with co-conveners Andrew Maerkle and Kanako Sugiyama, and Jordan A.Y. Smith as the advisor for the poetry program. The activities will take place at three different locations: The 5th Floor; Sogetsu Kaikan; and 21 KOMCEE West Lecture Hall, The University of Tokyo, Komaba Campus. 

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Inspired by the concept of the ‘uncanny valley’ proposed by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori in 1970, the Tokyo Invocation reflects on the ambiguities of the human in the face of technology and the issues that emerge at the intersection between art, artificial intelligence, and corporeality. The event will address issues such as the impact of artificial intelligences on artistic creation, the performativity of machines, and the affective dimension of the relationship between humans and automated devices. It will also discuss the evolution of robotics and its relationship with Japanese culture and history, ranging from traditional Noh to advanced humanoid robots equipped with embedded learning autonomy systems, along with the concept of Zen.

Under the curatorial direction of Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, accompanied by co-curators Alya Sebti, Anna Roberta Goetz and Thiago de Paula Souza, co-curator at large Keyna Eleison, and communication and strategy consultant Henriette Gallus, the project is part of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo – Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice.

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