The 31st Bienal de São Paulo will be titled “How to (…) things that don’t exist”.  It is a poetic invocation of art’s capacities, of its ability to reflect and act upon on life, power and belief.

The sentence, neither a question nor a proposition, entangles, through art, the mystical and spiritual side of life with political and social ideals – all this in a constantly changing world. It intends to communicate optimism about the possibilities of art today – an optimism that echoes that of the Bienal and the projects within it. The range of possibilities for action and intervention is open – an openness that is the reason for the first of the two verbs in the title to constantly change, anticipating the actions that might make present these things that don’t exist. We started by talking about them, later to move onto living with them. This was followed by using, struggling against and learning from those same things, in a list that has no end.

It will be co-curated by Charles Esche, director of the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands; Galit Eilat, research curator at the Van Abbemuseum and founding director of the Israeli Center for Digital Art in Holon; Pablo Lafuente, associate curator of the Office for Contemporary Art Norway in Oslo and coeditor of Afterall; Nuria Enguita Mayo, coeditor of Afterall; and Oren Sagiv, architect and professor of architecture at the Bezalel Academy for Art and Design in Jerusalem. The team is joined by associate curators Benjamin Seroussi, a Paris-based filmmaker, and Brazilian art critic Luiza Proença.

Founded in 1951, the São Paulo Bienal is the second oldest biennial in the world, following Venice’s, which began in 1885. The event is headquartered in the Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion, designed by famed Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. Additional exhibition spaces throughout the city span over 315,000 square feet.

Projects and artists:

Agnieszka Piksa, It’s Just the Spin of Inner Life
Alejandra Riera and UEINZZ, “… – MUTE – OHPERA – ... ”
Ana Lira, Vote!
Anna Boghiguian, Cities by the River
Archivo F.X. / Pedro G. Romero, The Modern School
Armando Queiroz with Almires Martins and Marcelo Rodrigues, Ymá Nhandehetama
Arthur Scovino, House of Caboclo
Asger Jorn, 10,000 Years of Nordic Folk Art
Asier Mendizabal, Agoramaquia (The Exact Case of the Statue)
Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, The Incidental Insurgents
Bik Van der Pol, Turning a Blind Eye
Bruno Pacheco, Meeting Point and other works
Chto Delat, The Excluded: In a moment of danger
Clara Ianni and Débora Maria da Silva, Plea
Dan Perjovschi, Wall, Work, Workshop: The São Paulo Drawing
Danica Daki?, Heaven / El Dorado / Vila Maria
Éder Oliveira, Untitled
Edward Krasi?ski, Spear and other works
El Hadji Sy, Marine Archaeology
Erick Beltrán, Double Goer
Etcétera… and León Ferrari, Erring from God
Gabriel Mascaro, It Is Not About Shoes
Giuseppe Campuzano, Life’s Timeline / Transvestite Museum of Peru
Graziela Kunsch, Fare Free Bus with Lilian L’Abbate Kelian, Urbânia 5 Magazine
Gülsün Karamustafa, Illustrated History / The Settler
Halil Alt?ndere, Wonderland
Hudinilson Jr., Tension Zone
Imogen Stidworthy, Balayer-A Map of Sweeping
Ines Doujak and John Barker, Loomshuttles, Warpaths
Jakob Jakobsen and María Berríos, The Revolution Must Be a School of Unfettered Thought
Jo Baer, In the Land of the Giants and other works
Johanna Calle, Imponderables / Perimeters
Jonas Staal, Nosso Lar, Brasília
Juan Carlos Romero, Violence
Juan Downey, The Abandoned Shabono / Video Trans Americas
Juan Pérez Agirregoikoa, Dead Letter
Kasper Akhøj and Tamar Guimarães, Captain Gervásio’s Family
Lázaro Saavedra, Under Pressure
Leigh Orpaz, Breakfast
Lia Perjovschi, A Research
Mapa Teatro, Laboratorio de artistas –The Uncounted: A Triptych
Mark Lewis, Invention
Marta Neves, No-Ideas
Michael Kessus Gedalyovich, The Name Giver / The Placebo Scroll
Mujeres Creando, Space to Abort
Nahum Zenil / Ocaña / Sergio Zevallos / Yeguas del Apocalipsis (Organized by Miguel A. López), God is Queer
Nilbar Güre?, Open Phone Booth / Black Series / TrabZONE and other works
Nurit Sharett, Counting the Stars
Otobong Nkanga, Landversation
Prabhakar Pachpute, Dark Clouds of the Future
Qiu Zhijie, Map
Romy Pocztaruk, The Last Adventure
Ruangrupa, RURU
Sandi Hilal, Alessandro Petti and Grupo Contrafilé, Mujawara
Sheela Gowda, Those of Whom
Teatro da Vertigem, The Last Word Is the Penultimate One – 2
Teresa Lanceta, Bert Flint / Granada / Handira
Thiago Martins de Melo, Martyrdom
Tiago Borges and Yonamine, AfroUFO
Tony Chakar, One Hundred Thousand Solitudes / Of Other Worlds That Are on This One
Val del Omar, Water-Mirror of Granada / Fire in Castile
Virginia de Medeiros, Sergio and Simone
Vivian Suter, Untitled
Voluspa Jarpa, Learning Histories
Walid Raad, Letters to the Reader (1864, 1877, 1916, 1923)
Wilhelm Sasnal, Capital
Yael Bartana, Hell
Yuri Firmeza, The Fortress / Nothing Is  
Yochai Avrahami, Small World

For complete information on the 31st Bienal de São Paulo please visit: bienal.org.br.