Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung
Practicing humanity through the flight of birds
The 2025 edition of the Bienal de São Paulo, opening on 6 September at the Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion, will feature 120 artists. Titled ‘Not All Travellers Walk Roads — Of Humanity as Practice’ — a phrase drawn from the poem Da calma e do silêncio [Of Calm and Silence] by Conceição Evaristo — the exhibition is described by the organisers as ‘an exercise in active listening to humanity as a practice of continual movement, encounter, and negotiation.’ The curatorial team, composed of Alya Sebti, Anna Roberta Goetz, Thiago de Paula Souza, Keyna Eleison, and Henriette Gallus, is led by Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, director and chief curator of Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW). Their approach takes inspiration from migratory bird routes, such as the red-tailed hawk crossing the Americas, the ruff moving between Central Asia and North Africa, and the Arctic tern with its vast polar journeys. In this interview, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung emphasises the urgency of asking how we might finally practice humanity — and suggests that perhaps the non-human can serve as a vital source of inspiration.
SM: (Sorana Munsya) I’m really happy to speak with you today — thank you so much for taking the time. It truly is a privilege. I recently attended an event with Olivier Marboeuf — writer, curator, film producer, and one of the artists participating in the upcoming edition of the Bienal de São Paulo, which you’re curating. He performed a piece based on his latest book, The Night Before the Fire. He said something during the performance that really stayed with me, even though I’ve h (…)
