Once again, the MON becomes the main venue for the Curitiba Biennial
With three decades of history, the Curitiba International Biennial opens its 16th edition to the public on June 14th at the Oscar Niemeyer Museum and various cultural spaces in the city, bringing together more than 300 artists from 38 countries across five continents in a broad program of exhibitions, installations, performances, and urban actions. With the theme "LIMIARES” (THRESHOLDS), curated by Adriana Almada and Tereza de Arruda, the Biennial proposes reflections on the transformations of the contemporary world and the increasingly fluid boundaries between the human and the technological, the natural and the artificial, the physical and the digital.
“More than a concept, LIMIARES is a curatorial attitude: inhabiting the border, remaining in between, creating from uncertainty, generating new paths,” say curators Adriana Almada and Tereza de Arruda.
Recognized as one of the main platforms for contemporary art in Latin America, the Biennial reaffirms in this edition its role as a space for international exchange, aesthetic experimentation and critical reflection on the present. The program runs until November 15, 2026 and brings together artists, researchers, scientists and students in projects that articulate painting, installation, performance, artificial intelligence, video art, photography, sound art and experiences in augmented reality.
MON as epicenter
The main exhibition hub of the Biennial takes place at the Oscar Niemeyer Museum (MON), a historical partner of the show and an inseparable part of its trajectory. The Biennial will occupy the Eye, the Tower, the Ramp, five exhibition rooms and inter-rooms, deepening a relationship built over more than two decades and marked by emblematic exhibitions of international contemporary art.
Throughout its history, the MON has hosted significant moments of the Biennale, such as Marina Abramović's performance in 2009; Julio Le Parc's major kinetic art exhibition at the Eye in 2015; the group exhibition of Chinese artists in 2017; and the presentation of the iconic sculpture "Spider" by Franco-American artist Louise Bourgeois in 2019.
“Once again, the largest art museum in Latin America opens its doors to host the Curitiba International Biennial, which is in its 16th edition and has the Oscar Niemeyer Museum as its main venue,” comments the CEO of MON, Juliana Vosnika.
The highlight of this edition will be the exhibition “Poéticas da Memória e da Matéria” (Poetics of Memory and Matter), curated by Tereza de Arruda and featuring Chiharu Shiota, one of the most important names in contemporary art worldwide. Known for its immersive installations constructed from threads, everyday objects, and emotional architecture, the artist will occupy the Olho and the Araucária 1 and Araucária 2 spaces of the MON with four new, site-specific works conceived especially for Curitiba. The main installation will utilize approximately 300 kilometers of wire – a distance equivalent to the route between Curitiba and Florianópolis– making it the artist's largest site-specific installation ever created in South America.
“Her powerful work, as well as that of other Asian artists participating in the Biennial, also engages in a dialogue with the collection from that continent that belongs to the MON,” adds Juliana.
The Biennial held an international public call to integrate letters, drawings, and personal accounts submitted by the public into Shiota's work, an action that has already mobilized hundreds of participants. In dialogue with the poetics of the Japanese artist based in Berlin, the MON Tower will bring together works by Brazilian artists such as Iêda Jardim, André Azevedo, Evandro Soares, James Kudo, Luiz Mauro, and Marina Camargo.
Also featured in LIMIARES is the renowned Spanish artist Max Esteban, whose artistic production focuses on critiquing the human condition in the face of technology through photography and video art. Another contemporary artist who will be presented to the public at MON is the Chinese artist Xia Hang, recognized for his interactive mechanical sculptures made of polished stainless steel, which blend cyberpunk aesthetics with the playful concept of "toys for adults".
International Curatorship
The curatorial text for the 16th Biennial is signed by Adriana Almada and Tereza de Arruda. The edition is structured around different curatorial axes, developed by an international team of invited curators who articulate their own exhibition nuclei, often connected to each other by conceptual, territorial, and technological similarities.
An Argentinian art critic, writer, and editor based in Paraguay, Adriana Almada is recognized for her strong work in the investigation of contemporary Latin American art. The former vice-president of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) in Paris was decorated by the French government with the Order of Arts and Letters. Sharing the curatorial direction of the Biennial, the Brazilian art historian Tereza de Arruda brings the experience of someone who has moved between São Paulo and Berlin since 1989, with consolidated projects in Europe, Asia and the Americas, and involvement with the Havana Biennial.
Among the guest curators is the Spanish-Argentine Ferran Barenblit, known internationally for discussing the political and social role of cultural institutions. Former director of MACBA in Barcelona, Barenblit shares with Adriana Almada, the curatorship of the exhibition “CartografiaProvisória” (Provisional Cartography) by the Spanish artist Max Esteban at MON.
The connection with contemporary Asian production is established through the Chinese curators Xiao Ge and Windy Lv, who bring to the Biennial a perspective marked by historical and conceptual rigor. At MON, they propose reflections on the environment, temporality, and the transformations of contemporary experience through a dialogue between art, technology, and the visual culture of East Asia.
Having participated in the Bienal del Fin del Mundo (Argentina) and recognized for discovering and promoting new talents from emerging generations, the Italian Massimo Scaringella co-curates the "Rifrações" section alongside Antonella Pisislli. The video art exhibition brings together female artists from French Guiana, Africa, and Albania.
American Royce W. Smith, current dean of the College of the Arts at California State University, Long Beach, is responsible for the "Camuflagens" (Camouflages) section, a collective investigation into perception, technology, concealment, and the construction of contemporary reality.
A Biennial spread throughout the city
In addition to the MON, the program occupies more than ten cultural institutions in Curitiba. Among them are the Paranaense Museum (MUPA), the Museum of Image and Sound of Paraná (MIS-PR), the Alfredo Andersen Museum, the Museum of Photography, the Museum of Engraving – Memorial of Curitiba, the Museum of Indigenous Art and the Municipal Museum of Art (MuMA).
This urban presence, anticipated by Curitiba Art Week and the Curitiba Biennial University Circuit (CUBIC5), is also manifested in Curitiba's public transportation system, an international benchmark in urban mobility. The Biennial will promote activations in 22 bus terminals, 300 urban bus stops, and over 1,000 city buses. Throughout the program, until November 15th, video art works curated by Flavio de Carvalho will be displayed on the integrated system's TVs, while augmented reality actions will occupy terminals and bus rapid transit stations. This program begins on July 16th. The 16th Curitiba International Biennial is organized by the Ministry of Culture, Federal Government - On the side of the Brazilian people, MON, MAC Paraná and Paraná Festival - State Secretariat of Culture (SEEC) - Government of Paraná. Support: Curitiba Cultural Foundation (FCC) - Curitiba City Hall.
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