Through a partnership between the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo and the Espírito Santo State Government, together with the Secretariat for Culture and the Government Secretariat of Espírito Santo, the city of Vitória (ES) will host a special selection of the 35th Bienal de São Paulo – choreographies of the impossible in two different venues: the Museu de Arte do Espírito Santo Dionísio Del Santo (MAES) and the Espaço Cultural Palácio Anchieta. During the opening on August 28th, the Espaço Cultural Palácio Anchieta will also host a presentation from Vale Música, a branch of original programs integrated into the Instituto Cultural Vale, sponsor of the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo and articulator of the traveling exhibition in Vitória.

Curated by Diane Lima, Grada Kilomba, Hélio Menezes and Manuel Borja-Villel, the show will be on display in the capital of Espírito Santo from August 29 to November 3, with free admission. The city will host the 11th stop on the traveling exhibitions program in this edition of the Bienal, with fifteen artistic participations, four at MAES and eleven at the Palácio Anchieta Cultural Space.

At MAES, Citra Sasmita, Leilah Weinraub, M’barek Bouhchichi, and Rubiane Maia are exhibiting, while at the Espaço Cultural Palácio Anchieta there are works by Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro, Colectivo Ayllu, Grupo de Investigación en Arte y Política (GIAP), Malinche, Marilyn Boror Bor, Maya Deren, Quilombo Cafundó, Rosana Paulino, Sarah Maldoror, Simone Leigh and Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich and Xica Manicongo.

The central space of the Espaço Cultural Palácio Anchieta will be filled by the work Montando a história da vida [Manufacturing the History of Life] (2023), commissioned by the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo for the 35th Bienal, by the artist Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro, who hails from Espírito Santo. The large installation made up of black earth, a fishing boat, bowls, eucalyptus logs, plywood sheets, corten steel and four oil paintings on linen will have a new installation specifically for the Palace.

Another artist native to the city, Rubiane Maia, will perform A língua sempre se dobra diante do inquestável ou maldito, Livro-Performance, capítulo VI [The tongue bends whenever it faces what is unquestionable or what has been cursed book-performance, chapter VI] (2018-2024) on August 30 at 5 pm at MAES, with free admission. The work was commissioned by the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo for the 35th Bienal and co-commissioned with Sesc. In the performance, the artist organizes a series of actions designed in response to autobiographical texts, particularly influenced by traumatic transgenerational memories linked to issues of gender and race.

For the curators, it has always been crucial for the exhibition to reach cities other than São Paulo. According to them, “the debates proposed by the 35th Bienal cross countless territories around the world, so the fact that the choreographies of the impossible are not restricted to the Bienal Pavilion is extremely important for the work carried out”.

Renato Casagrande, governor of the state of Espírito Santo, comments: “I always say that culture forms the personality of a person, of a state. It is through culture that we demonstrate the personality of the people of Espírito Santo. And having major events and exhibitions in Espírito Santo is part of this process of cultural formation. Hosting the Bienal de São Paulo is a way of going beyond the walls of one of the country’s biggest cultural events, bringing to Espírito Santo a little of what the whole world goes to São Paulo to see. The State Government has been working hard to strengthen culture in Espírito Santo, creating opportunities for those who live from culture and also for those who consume it.”

Andrea Pinheiro, president of the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, said: “This is the second time we’ve brought the Bienal de São Paulo to the Espaço Cultural Palácio Anchieta, and the first to MAES, through this very important partnership with the Espírito Santo State Government. The Bienal de São Paulo traveling exhibitions program, which began in 2011, continues to take international works to all regions of Brazil, including cities outside the Rio-São Paulo axis, helping to expand the reach of the São Paulo show and to democratize access to culture at a national level.”

The opening of the 35th Bienal de São Paulo in Vitória, on August 29, takes place from 5 pm at the MAES and from 6 pm at the Espaço Cultural Palácio Anchieta.

Actions with the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo education team

During the traveling exhibitions, the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, together with its partner institutions, carries out two fronts of educational work that complement each other. These are training actions with the city’s teams of mediators and educators, and outreach actions for the general public.

On August 28 and 29, the Bienal’s education team is offering conversations and sharing about and with the three movements of the educational publication. The educational publication of the choreographies of the impossible was divided into three different movements – or volumes – with content aimed at mediation and outreach actions. The third movement, prepared especially for the traveling exhibitions program, was produced based on the practices carried out during the exhibition at the Pavilion and is distributed free of charge to those taking part in the actions. The meeting is crossed by the thoughts of poet, playwright and teacher Leda Maria Martins, artist Rosana Paulino, curator and researcher Sandra Benites and Regina Aparecida Pereira and Cíntia Aparecida Delgado, leaders of Quilombo Cafundó. The meetings with the educational publication will take place on the 28th, from 10 am to 12 pm, at the Espaço Cultural Palácio Anchieta and the following day, at the same time, at the MAES.

On August 29, during the opening of the exhibition, the Bienal’s education team will conduct two-hour in-person guided tours. This visit invites the public on a tour of the traveling exhibition at MAES and the Espaço Cultural Palácio Anchieta. The following day, August 30, there will also be guided tours in both spaces, at 10 am at the MAES and 3 pm at the Espaço Cultural Palácio Anchieta. All activities are free of charge.

These initiatives aim to create a collaborative and dynamic learning environment, providing enriching experiences for teachers, educators, mediators and those interested in art. With a focus on interaction with the public and the dissemination of contemporary art, the program seeks to strengthen ties between cultural institutions and contribute to a more inclusive society.

Service
35th Bienal de São Paulo – choreographies of the impossible
Vitória Traveling Exhibition – MAES and Espaço Cultural Palácio Anchieta
Curators: Diane Lima, Grada Kilomba, Hélio Menezes and Manuel Borja-Villel
free admission

Museu de Arte do Espírito Santo Dionísio Del Santo (MAES)
opening: Aug 28, Wed, 5 pm
visitation: Aug 29 – Nov 3, 2024
Tue – Fri, 10 am – 6 pm
Sat, Sun, holidays, 10 am – 4pm
Avenida Jerônimo Monteiro, 631, Centro
Vitória, Brazil

Espaço Cultural Palácio Anchieta
opening: Aug 28, Wed, 6 pm
visitation: Aug 29 – Nov 3, 2024
Tue – Fri, 9 am – 5 pm
Sat, Sun, holidays, 9 am – 4 pm
João Clímaco Square, s/n, Cidade Alta
Vitória, Brazil

Performance by Rubiane Maia
A língua sempre se dobra diante do inquestável ou maldito, Livro-Performance, capítulo VI
Aug 30, 2024
Fri, 5 pm
Museu de Arte do Espírito Santo Dionísio Del Santo (MAES)
Avenida Jerônimo Monteiro, 631, Centro
Vitória, Brazil

Meetings with the 35th Bienal’s educational publication
Aug 28, 2024
Wed, 10 am
Espaço Cultural Palácio Anchieta
João Clímaco Square, s/n, Cidade Alta
Vitória, Brazil

Meetings with the 35th Bienal’s educational publication
Aug 29, 2024
Thu, 10 am
Museu de Arte do Espírito Santo Dionísio Del Santo (MAES)
Avenida Jerônimo Monteiro, 631, Centro
Vitória, Brazil

Mediated visits with the Bienal’s education team
Aug 29 and 30, 2024
Thurs, 5 pm
Fri, 3 pm
Museu de Arte do Espírito Santo Dionísio Del Santo (MAES)
Avenida Jerônimo Monteiro, 631, Centro
Vitória, Brazil

Mediated visits with the Bienal’s education team
Aug 29 and 30, 2024
Thurs, 7 pm
Fri, 10 am
Espaço Cultural Palácio Anchieta
João Clímaco Square, s/n, Cidade Alta
Vitória, Brazil