The Fundação Bienal de São Paulo announces the traveling exhibition of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo – Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice at the Pinacoteca do Ceará, in Fortaleza, from May 23 to August 16, 2026. This marks the third time the capital of Ceará hosts the Bienal’s traveling exhibitions program, consolidating the exhibition’s presence in Northeastern Brazil and debuting at the Pinacoteca do Ceará, a museum of the Secretariat of Culture of the State of Ceará, managed by the Instituto Mirante. The traveling exhibition is curated by Thiago de Paula Souza, co-curator of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo, with exhibition design by Tiago Guimarães. The exhibition is signed by Petrobras.
The exhibition in Fortaleza brings together works by Antonio Társis, Berenice Olmedo, Gê Viana, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Manauara Clandestina, Márcia Falcão, Marlene Almeida, Ming Smith, Théodore Diouf, and Wolfgang Tillmans. The selection includes photographs, videos, installations, paintings, and sound works that investigate processes of migration, collective memory, resistance, and the construction of identities in territories undergoing transformation.
“The selection of works we prepared for Fortaleza seeks to engage with urgent questions surrounding territory, displacement, and belonging that resonate in particularly meaningful ways within the context of Northeastern Brazil. Here, the exhibition proposes reflections on how we create roots, how we inhabit contested spaces, and how we resist. The city of Fortaleza, marked by intense urban transformations and the coexistence of multiple temporalities, offers a very compelling context for these dialogues,” notes Thiago de Paula Souza.
For Andrea Pinheiro, president of the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, the Bienal’s return to Fortaleza carries a deeply personal meaning. “As someone from Ceará, every time the Bienal returns to Fortaleza it is a profoundly emotional moment. This is the third time the city has welcomed us, and now we are pleased to debut at the Pinacoteca do Ceará, a young institution that is already essential to the local cultural scene. I know the strength of Ceará’s artistic and cultural production, and I also understand the importance of democratizing access to projects of this scale,” she says.
“For the Pinacoteca do Ceará, hosting the traveling exhibition of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo strengthens the museum as a living space for discourse and as an essential harbor for critical reflection within the national context. By democratizing access to contemporary art through free admission and educational mediation, the exhibition brings the public closer to key poetics and debates in contemporary artistic production in Brazil, expanding voices and territories while directly engaging with our exhibitions and public education program,” says Rian Fontenele, general and artistic director of the Pinacoteca do Ceará.
Beyond the presentation of artworks, the traveling exhibitions program is structured around a transversal educational axis, including training for local teams, online and in-person meetings, pedagogical support, and activities for diverse audiences, such as guided tours, talks, teacher workshops, and educational activities for students.
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
Traveling exhibition Fortaleza – Pinacoteca do Ceará
curator: Thiago de Paula Souza
exhibition design: Tiago Guimarães
May 23 – Aug 16, 2026
Wed – Fri, 10 am – 6 pm
Sat, 12 pm – 8 pm
Sun, 10 am – 5 pm
Pinacoteca do Ceará
Rua 24 de Maio, 34, Praça da Estação s/n – Centro
Fortaleza, Brazil
free admission