The curatorial collective responsible for the 35th Bienal de São Paulo consists of Grada Kilomba, Diane Lima, an independent curator, writer and researcher; Hélio Menezes, a curator, anthropologist and researcher; and Manuel Borja-Villel, a researcher, art historian and the former director of the Reina Sofía Museum, Madrid. The group has a horizontal structure without the figure of a chief curator, and understands this configuration as essential to the project. In conversation with two students of Städelschule, Grada Kilomba will present the conceptual foundations of the project, the proposal for educational actions and also the main issues that will be addressed through the artworks in the 35th Bienal de São Paulo, titled choreographies of the impossible.

Grada Kilomba lives in Berlin. She is an interdisciplinary artist, writer and got her PhD at the Philosophy Departmentent at Freie Universität Berlin. Kilomba has taught at several international universities, such as the academy of fine arts in Vienna. Kilombas works raise questions about knowledge, power and cyclic violence, and have been exhibited at significant events such as the 10th Berlin Biennale; Documenta 14; La Biennale de Lubumbashi VI; and the 32nd Bienal de São Paulo; as well as numerous international museums and theaters. Her art has different formats such as performance, scenic reading, texts, video and installation, focusing on memory, trauma, gender and post-colonialism. The works are part of public and private collections such as the Tate Modern, London.

The lecture will be held in English language.

This lecture is a cooperation with and made possible by the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo.