Sonic Program – Mbé

On December 14, Mbé will perform a live performance as part of the Sonic Program of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo. The event will take place from 5 pm to 6 pm at the work of Precious Okoyomon, located on the ground floor.

In dialogue with the curatorial concept of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo, a group of artists who share a hybrid sonic practice, connecting sound and aesthetic experimentation, present sets in which sound operates as an instrument of memory, resistance, and cultural transformation.

These artists explore sonic sources such as field recordings, interviews, urban noise, Afrodiasporic beats, and soundscapes; they employ sampling, live manipulation, and vinyl records to create tracks that go beyond traditional music. There is a strong emphasis on the discursive dimension of sound: the creative process is grounded both in research and in reflections on subjectivity and political identity, weaving together aesthetic experience and social critique.

For this series of activations, the work Sun of Consciousness. God Blow Thru Me – Love Break Me, by Precious Okoyomon, serves as a reference for each presentation.

The Sonic Program is supported by Petrobras.

Luan Correia, known as Mbé, is an artist from Rocinha whose musical training moves through experimentalism and the need to create meanings for Black life, setting aside feelings of marginalization and social subalternity. In his debut album, Rocinha (2021), he creates a laboratory of sonic collages that brings together field recordings, interviews, ethnomusicology, free jazz, noise, and elements of Afro-Brazilian culture, composing a sensorial portrait of Black history in Brazil from the perspective of the hillside. His work stems from a deeply investigative process, in which films, books, archives, old recordings, and Afro-Brazilian heritage itself fuel a practice that understands sound as discourse, memory, and identity affirmation.

Service
Sonic Program – Mbé
36th Bienal de São Paulo – Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice
Dec 14, 2025
Sun, 5 pm
Precious Okoyomon space, ground floor
Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo
Parque Ibirapuera, Gate 3
São Paulo, SP
free admission