The 36th Bienal de São Paulo proudly announces Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung as its chief curator for 2025. Born in 1977 in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Ndikung stands as a prominent figure in the global contemporary art landscape. His diverse journey spans institution building, curatorial practice with a focus on performativity, sound, installation, and visual arts, as well as critical theory and discourse. With a background in medical biotechnology and biophysics, Ndikung's commitment to merging art and science has been evident throughout his career. His visionary approach led to his appointment as director and chief curator of Berlin’s Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in January 2023, following his role as founding director of SAVVY Contemporary. Additionally, Ndikung serves as a professor at the weißensee academy of art berlin.
“To say that I am happy to be appointed chief curator of Bienal de São Paulo would be an understatement. I am thrilled, honored and humbled to embark on this journey with a team of co-curators and the brilliant Bienal de São Paulo team led by the foundation’s president Andrea Pinheiro. Bienal de São Paulo is not only one of the oldest and most important biennials in the world, but as one of the very few free-admission biennials, it has proven in the past 73 years to be a biennial of and for the people. With its path breaking exhibitions, public and pedagogical programs, the Bienal de São Paulo has succeeded in bringing art to varying communities and demographic groups. Despite the challenges that biennials are facing around the world, they still serve as important barometers for measuring the sociopolitical pressures of the world. The Bienal de São Paulo seems to me to be a seismograph that not only records the different tremblements the world is experiencing socioeconomically, geopolitically and environmentally, but these records also give us the possibilities of shaping a more just, humanitarian future for all animate and inanimate beings on this planet. I am not only looking forward to continuing my long-term research in Abya Yala at large and Brazil in particular, but also to connecting my current practices as director, pedagogue and curator across geographies,” says Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung.
Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung's curatorial proposal was chosen by Andrea Pinheiro, the president of Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, in collaboration with a curatorial committee comprising vice president Maguy Etlin, Governing Board president Eduardo Saron, and board members José Olympio da Veiga Pereira, Ligia Fonseca Pereira, Marcelo Araujo, Susana Steinbruch, and Paula Weiss, with the support of Antonio Lessa, the chief operating officer of Fundação Bienal de São Paulo. Pinheiro emphasizes,
"Ndikung's curatorial vision serves as a dynamic force challenging boundaries and shaping the trajectory of contemporary art globally. I am confident that the 36th Bienal de São Paulo will maintain its provocative stance, addressing current issues and building upon the momentum generated by our recent editions."
Scheduled for the latter half of 2025, the 36th Bienal de São Paulo will showcase Ndikung's curatorial project, alongside his team, during the latter half of this year.
For more information, visit: The São Paulo Biennial
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