The Bienal de São Paulo, Latin America's equivalent of a cultural supernova, just announced its chief curators for the 2027 edition: Amanda Carneiro and Raphael Fonseca. The theme for this massive art spectacle is still under wraps, but considering the talent involved, it's safe to assume it won't involve still-life paintings of fruit bowls. It all goes down in the iconic, Oscar Niemeyer-designed Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo in Ibirapuera Park, which, if you haven't seen it, is a work of art in itself.
Andrea Pinheiro, president of the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, noted that this duo marks only the second time two Brazilian curators have jointly led the artistic direction. Apparently, Brazil's got a deep bench of curatorial talent ready to keep the Bienal firmly at the center of the global art conversation. No pressure, then.
Meet the Visionaries
Raphael Fonseca is a name that pops up everywhere from Denver to Lisbon. He's currently a curator-at-large at the Denver Art Museum and the visual arts curator for Culturgest in Portugal. Before that, he was holding court at the Contemporary Art Museum of Niterói in Brazil. And if that wasn't enough frequent flyer miles, he's also the chief curator for the 2025 Bienal do Mercosul, a co-curator for the upcoming 3rd Counterpublic Triennial and the 2023 SESC Videobrasil Biennale, and he's organizing the Taiwan Pavilion in Venice. The man clearly doesn't sleep.
We're a new kind of news feed.
Regular news is designed to drain you. We're a non-profit built to restore you. Every story we publish is scored for impact, progress, and hope.
Start Your News DetoxAmanda Carneiro brings her own considerable heft, hailing from the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP). She's the mastermind behind acclaimed exhibitions for artists like Santiago Yahuarcani, Hulda Guzmán, and Beatriz Milhazes. Oh, and she was also part of the curatorial team for the main exhibition at the 2024 Venice Biennale, which, if you're keeping score, is kind of a big deal. Before MASP, she honed her craft at the Museu Afro Brasil Emanoel Araujo.
Carneiro summed up her new role as "a joy, a challenge, and a responsibility." Which, if you're about to orchestrate the largest art event in Latin America, sounds about right. She's particularly excited to work with artists in her home city of São Paulo, proving that even at this level, there's no place like home.
