The Bienal de São Paulo comes to Germany for the first time. With the exhibition Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice, the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo opens at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin, one of the new international stops on the 36th edition’s traveling exhibition program. The exhibition opens on September 11, from 5:30 pm to 10 pm, and runs from September 12 to December 6, 2026, and is presented by Petrobras.
The Berlin edition is curated by Alya Sebti, co-curator of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo. In addition to works shown in São Paulo, it presents pieces conceived specifically for the occasion, with adapted works and site-specific interventions, featuring more than thirty participants. Works arriving in Berlin were part of an exhibition seen by 784,000 visitors in São Paulo between September 2025 and January 2026.
Drawing from the poem ‘Da calma e do silêncio’ [Of calm and silence], by Conceição Evaristo, the exhibition understands listening as one of the foundations of humanity’s practice. This state of attention makes it possible to establish multiple connections with other beings, with lands and waters, with the multigenerational lineages we carry, building spaces of coexistence and care.
Just as the Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion, designed by Oscar Niemeyer in Ibirapuera park, the building designed by Hugh Stubbins occupies a liminal position between architecture and landscape, on the banks of the Tiergarten, near the Spree River. The exhibition takes this condition as a starting point for thinking about what exhibition spaces share beyond geography: the tension between interior and exterior, between the built and the living.
The participants in this edition are Akinbode Akinbiyi, Alberto Pitta, Aline Baiana, Amina Agueznay, Ana Raylander Mártis dos Anjos, Cevdet Erek, Chaïbia Talal, Christopher Cozier, Emeka Ogboh, Forensic Architecture / Forensis, Gervane de Paula, Juliana dos Santos, Julianknxx, Laila Hida, Leiko Ikemura, Leo Asemota, Lidia Lisbôa, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Malika Agueznay, Manauara Clandestina, Mao Ishikawa, Maria Auxiliadora, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Ming Smith, Mohamed Melehi, Olu Oguibe, Rebeca Carapiá, Sérgio Soarez, Tanka Fonta, Theo Eshetu, Théodore Diouf, and Wolfgang Tillmans.
“Humanity is a practice we commit to every day, shaped through the ways we listen, care, and relate to one another. This exhibition invites us to listen—to one another, to the lands beneath our feet, to histories that continue to shape the present, and to the more-than-human worlds we inhabit. The conversation initiated in São Paulo unfolds at HKW through newly commissioned, site-specific, and reconfigured works, entering into dialogue with the histories, landscapes, and communities of Berlin. In this process, new resonances emerge, reminding us that listening is a way of entering into relation, unsettling hierarchies, and opening space for one another”, says Alya Sebti, curator of the Berlin edition.
“Bringing the Bienal de São Paulo to Germany for the first time is an important step for the traveling exhibitions program. Haus der Kulturen der Welt is a significant partner for this exchange — an institution committed to voices and perspectives that broaden our understanding of culture’s multidisciplinarity,” says Andrea Pinheiro, president of the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo.
Held since 2011, the traveling exhibitions have become a fundamental extension of the Bienal de São Paulo, enabling the works and debates presented at the Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion to be reconfigured in dialogue with diverse local contexts, activating new readings and relationships with audiences beyond the main exhibition axis. In its 36th edition, this movement reaches new territories.
Accessibility and Inclusion
To expand access to the 36th Bienal de São Paulo, the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, in partnership with Haus der Kulturen der Welt, has prepared a range of accessibility resources and different ways of experiencing the exhibition. Throughout the exhibition, visitors can also take part in a program of guided tours, conversations with educators, and workshops. Accessible via QR code, the exhibition’s digital guide features an introduction in International Sign and German Sign Language (DGS), introductions in Easy Read in English and German, as well as audio guides in English and German with information about the exhibition and selected artists, including Akinbode Akinbiyi, Ana Raylander Mártis dos Anjos, Gervane de Paula, Julianknxx, Lidia Lisbôa, Manauara Clandestina, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, and Wolfgang Tillmans. Easy Read content in English and German about the exhibition and selected artworks is also available. The guide can be accessed on a mobile phone using headphones.
Another way to explore the exhibition is through the interactive zine, available at the ticket counter, which offers different ways of engaging with the artworks and themes of the exhibition. The Bloomberg Connects app also provides additional information about the exhibition, accessibility features such as image descriptions, and other ways of exploring the artworks.
Opening Weekend Program
Friday, September 11
6:15–7 pm: Performance by Julianknxx: Attuned in the Bantutronic (Sylvia Wynter Foyer)
7:30–8:15 pm: Opening speeches (Miriam Makeba Auditorium)
8:30–10 pm: Concert by the Ray Lema Quintet (Miriam Makeba Auditorium)
10 pm–12 am: DJ set by Emeka Ogboh (Hirschfeld Bar)
Exhibition open until 10 pm.
Saturday, September 12
12–1 pm: Exhibition tour with Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung and Alya Sebti (in English; meeting point: desk in the Sylvia Wynter Foyer)
2–3 pm: Conversation with Aline Baiana (Sylvia Wynter Foyer, in English)
3–4 pm: Conversation with Vilanismo and Akinbode Akinbiyi, moderated by Billy Fowo (Sylvia Wynter Foyer, in English)
4–6 pm: Conversation and participatory dance practice with Felix Dompreh, Pascale ‘Baba’ Altenburger, and Nora Amin ‘H’ Patten: On Dance as a Common Ground for Critical Practices (Haunani-Kay Trask Room, in English)
6–7 pm: Poetry reading by Abena P.A. Busia (Sylvia Wynter Foyer, in English)
7–9 pm: Film screening and conversation with Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn: The Unburied Sounds of a Troubled Horizon (2022) (Safi Faye Room, in English)
Exhibition open until 7 pm.
Sunday, September 13 (Family Program)
12–1 pm: Exhibition tour with the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo team (in Portuguese; meeting point: desk in the Sylvia Wynter Foyer)
1:45–2:15 pm: Family tour with Lisa Vasvari and Clara Kramer: Art Love Affair (in German; meeting point: desk in the Sylvia Wynter Foyer)
3–4 pm: Exhibition tour with Emilienne Fernande Bodo (in German; meeting point: desk in the Sylvia Wynter Foyer)
3–6 pm: Kinderdisco Special in collaboration with KUYUM Tanzplattform (Haunani-Kay Trask Room, Angie Stardust Foyer)
Exhibition open until 7 pm.
Admission is free throughout the opening weekend (September 11–13).
Service
36th Bienal de São Paulo – Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice
chief curator: Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung
co-curators: Alya Sebti, Anna Roberta Goetz, Thiago de Paula Souza
co-curator at large: Keyna Eleison
strategy and communications advisor: Henriette Gallus
deputy co-curators: André Pitol, Leonardo Matsuhei
Berlin Traveling Exhibition – Haus der Kulturen der Welt
curator: Alya Sebti
exhibition design: Gisele de Paula
opening: Sept 11, Fri, 5:30 pm – 10 pm
Sept 12 – Dec 6, 2026
Wed – Mon, 12 pm – 7 pm
Haus der Kulturen der Welt
John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10
10557 Berlin, Germany
admission: €10 / reduced €7
Free entry on Mondays and the first Sunday of every month, as well as during the opening weekend (11–13 September) and closing weekend (5–6 December)
www.hkw.de