Talk – Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Gê Viana, Manauara Clandestina, and Thiago de Paula Souza – Bukimi no Tani (不気味の谷): The Uncanny Valley – The Affectivity of the Humanoid

On December 7, the talk Bukimi no Tani (不気味の谷): The Uncanny Valley – The Affectivity of the Humanoid will take place with 36th Bienal artists Gê Viana and Manauara Clandestina, the chief curator Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, and co-curator Thiago de Paula Souza. The discussion focuses on the fourth volume of the educational publication and the fourth Invocation in Tokyo, Bukimi no Tani (不気味の谷): The Uncanny Valley – The Affectivity of the Humanoid. The event runs from 11am to 1pm at the Bloomberg Education Space, on the third floor of the Pavilion.

The activity is part of Conjugations – Education, within the public program of the 36th Bienal. Conjugations – Education offers activities that, inspired by play, dance, song, games, and storytelling, invite the public into an active and playful immersion in the exhibition, deepening practices of humanity and valuing diverse ways of being and living together. During the activation, the fourth volume of the educational publication will be distributed.

The activity includes interpretation in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language).

Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung is a curator, author and biotechnologist, currently serving as director and chief curator of Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) Berlin, Germany. He is the founder and former artistic director of SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin, as well as the artistic director of sonsbeek20->24, a quadrennial contemporary art exhibition in Arnhem, the Netherlands. He also worked as curator-at-large for Adam Szymczyk’s documenta 14 in Athens, Greece and Kassel, Germany in 2017 and was guest curator of the Dak’Art: African Contemporary Art Biennale in Dakar, Senegal, in 2018. Additionally, he served as the artistic director for the 12th and 13th editions of the Bamako Encounters – African Biennale of Photography in Mali, taking on this role in 2019 and 2022. Together with the Miracle Workers Collective, he curated the Finnish Pavilion at the 58th Biennale di Venezia, 2019. Prof. Dr. Ndikung was a guest professor in curatorial studies and sound art at the Städelschule in Frankfurt, and he is currently a professor and head of faculty in the Spatial Strategies Master’s program at the weißensee academy of art berlin. He was the recipient of the first OCAD University International Curators Residency fellowship in Toronto in 2020. His published works include, inter alia, The Delusions of Care (2021), An Ongoing-Offcoming Tale: Ruminations on Art, Culture, Politics and Us/Others (2022) and Pidginization as Curatorial Method (2023).

Gê Viana (Santa Luzia, 1986; lives and works in São Luís) is a visual artist trained at the Federal University of Maranhão. Her work spans domestic and urban spaces, using manual and digital collage, painting, and lambe-lambe techniques. Drawing from archival images and the oral memory of her family, she weaves narratives of Afro-diasporic daily life in Maranhão while confronting hegemonic culture. She has participated in the Bienal das Amazônias (Belém, 2023), the 38th Panorama of Brazilian Art (MAM São Paulo, 2024), the exhibition Brazilian Histories (MASP, 2022), and the Borås Art Biennial (2024). Her works are in collections such as the Pinacoteca de São Paulo and the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro.

Manauara Clandestina (born in Manaus; lives in São Paulo) is a visual artist and film student. Her background was shaped by her experience in evangelical missions in the interior of Amazonas, where she first engaged with art through church theater and music. Her work emerges as an expression of urban nightlife and unfolds in performances exploring travesti experience, shaped by processes of transition and affectivity. She proposes reflections on dissident bodies through poetic constructions linked to the world of fashion. Her work has been shown at the Institute of Architects of Brazil and MASP (São Paulo), the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro, the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the 1st Bienal das Amazônias (Belém), and the 60th Venice Biennale.
This participation is supported by ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen.

Thiago de Paula Souza is a curator and educator. He co-curated the 38th Panorama of Brazilian Art at MAM São Paulo (2024), Some May Work as Symbols: Art Made in Brazil, 1950s–70s at Raven Row (London), the Nomadic Program of Vleeshal Center for Contemporary Art (Middelburg, 2022–2023), While We Are Embattled at Para Site (Hong Kong), and Acts of Revolt at MAM Rio (2022). Between 2020 and 2021, he was part of the curatorial team of the 3rd edition of Frestas – Triennial of Arts (São Paulo). He served as curatorial advisor for the 58th Carnegie International (2021–2022). From 2018 to 2019, he curated Tony Cokes’s first solo exhibition at BAK (Utrecht) and was part of the curatorial team of the 10th Berlin Biennale (2018). He currently serves on the Artistic Committee of the NESR Art Foundation in Angola and is a PhD candidate in the arts program at HDK Valand – University of Gothenburg.

Service
Talk – Bukimi no Tani (不気味の谷): The Uncanny Valley – The Affectivity of the Humanoid with Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Gê Viana, Manauara Clandestina, and Thiago de Paula Souza
36th Bienal de São Paulo – Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice
December 7, 2025
Sun, 11 am
Bloomberg education Space, 3rd floor
Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion
Ibirapuera Park, gate 3
São Paulo, Brazil
free admission