Colombian artist Leonel Vásquez investigates sound as a vibrational force and a medium of sensory transformation. In his recent research, Vásquez has focused on relational listening practices aimed at life niches and more-than-human sonic agencies – such as water, trees, stones, and other living and vibrant materials – guiding himself by the study of cosmoresonances as a contribution to systemic intelligence and planetary well-being.
Sound, our first connection to the world – present even before we open our eyes to the light of life – manifests as vibration in motion, awakening other states of attention. Understanding listening as the foundation of relationships and agreements between living beings is the essence of Templo da água: rio Tietê [Temple of Water: Tietê River] (2025).
The first Templo da água created by Vásquez was made in collaboration with the Bogotá River in Colombia, exploring listening as a way to reconnect with natural flows. When transported to the context of São Paulo and the Tietê River, this reflection gains new layers of meaning. Historically, the Tietê played a fundamental role in the formation of the city, shaping the ways of life of its first inhabitants. However, with the advancement of urbanization, São Paulo progressively broke its ties with the rivers, opting to canalize, pollute, and distance them from the landscape and daily life. Still, traces of this presence persist: the very Ibirapuera Park, where the Bienal Pavilion is located, is crossed by the Sapateiro Stream – a small watercourse that originates in the park and connects to the Tietê – reminding us of the invisible web of waters that continues to sustain the city.
The installation is designed as an intimate and meditative space. Its circular format favors collective resonance – not just as a sensory experience, but as a gesture of reconnection with the river, with others, and with oneself. Long copper flutes connected to glass bulbs are suspended and animated by a mechanical system that causes the assembly to be immersed in a basin of water. The filling and emptying of the bulb create an air pressure dynamic that, in turn, activates sound in the tube, somewhat reminiscent of the hydraulic technology of whistling vessels developed by various populations in the Andean region, such as the Quimbaya people from the Cauca Valley in present-day Colombia.
The crystalline waters from the upper Tietê River, collected for the work, are permanently oxygenated and traversed by the frequencies emitted by the flutes, creating a soundscape that evokes the cyclical flow of life. Around it, thought benches invite visitors to immerse themselves in the resonance of the river, transforming the act of listening into a gesture of both personal and environmental healing. At the conclusion of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo, this very water will be returned to the Tietê.