Conjugations – Ajabu Ajabu – UMA: Not All Travelers Walk Roads

On November 22, as part of Conjugations, the public program of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo – which brings together institutions from around the world to collectively connect, explore, and celebrate humanity – Ajabu Ajabu will present UMA: Not All Travelers Walk Roads, an edition of the event series UMA (meaning public or gathering in Swahili). The event will take place from 3 pm to 5 pm at the Invocations space, on the second floor.

UMA is a themed listening session featuring live readings of text (original or reference) set against projected visuals and live score. For this edition of UMA: Not All Travelers Walk Roads, a performative tour of the Swahili coast will be presented. The tour will be an audio visual composition consisting of live readings by Jesse Gerard Mpango and Bernard Ntahondi, recordings of Swahili poetry by Habib Diliwa, an original score by DJ Seche and visuals of Dar Es Salaam, Bagamoyo and Stone Town.

Following the performance, participants of the event will be invited to share in Zad. This is an Arab tradition involving taking more food than you need upon traveling in order to share with the people you meet on your journey. This Zad will consist of dishes local to São Paulo which have elements of shared history with food from the Swahili Coast.

Ajabu Ajabu Audio Visual House is an audio visual space and curatorial collective focused on the production and presentation of AV work in Tanzania. Across screenings, workshops, exhibitions, and publishing they are informed by traditions of gathering and spaces for reflection and our work unfolds as a study and critique of ways of knowing.

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Conjugations – UMA: Not All Travelers Walk Roads – Ajabu Ajabu
36th Bienal de São Paulo – Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice
November 22, 2025
Saturday, 3 pm
Invocations space, 2nd floor
Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo
Ibirapuera Park, Gate 3
Av. Pedro Álvares Cabral, s/n
São Paulo, Brazil
free admission