São Paulo’s 36th Bienal Lands in Salvador: 14 Artists, Free on Wednesdays and Sundays
Art & Exhibitions
Key Facts
- Dates. September 5 to November 29, 2026, at MUNCAB — Rua das Vassouras, 25, historic center, Salvador.
- Hours. Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (access until 4:30 p.m.).
- Tickets. R$ 20 full, R$ 10 half-price; free entry on Wednesdays and Sundays.
- Artists. 14 participants, including Nádia Taquary, Alberto Pitta, Antonio Társis, Ming Smith, Myrlande Constant, Korakrit Arunanondchai and Manauara Clandestina.
- Curators. Keyna Eleison and Thiago de Paula Souza, from the Bienal’s curatorial team led by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung.
The traveling exhibition of the 36th São Paulo Bienal opens September 5 at Salvador’s Museu Nacional da Cultura Afro-Brasileira (MUNCAB), with works by 14 artists — including Salvador’s own Nádia Taquary and American photographer Ming Smith — on view through November 29, free on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Latin America’s biggest art exhibition is going on the road, and Salvador is the stop that makes the most sense. The 36th Bienal de São Paulo’s traveling show opens at MUNCAB on September 5 — the first time the program comes to the Afro-Brazilian culture museum in the historic center.
What Comes to Salvador
The exhibition gathers 14 Brazilian and international artists whose work dialogues with Afro-Brazilian and Afro-diasporic cultural expressions — memory, body, vulnerability and contemporary social questions, under the Bienal’s edition title inspired by Conceição Evaristo’s poem ‘Da calma e do silêncio’.
It is the third time Salvador receives a Bienal traveling show — after 2011 and 2024, both at MAM-BA — but the first at MUNCAB, the museum dedicated to Afro-Brazilian culture and history.
The Salvador Connection
The artist selection runs deep into Bahia: Antonio Társis was born in Salvador’s Arraial do Retiro; Alberto Pitta brings screen-printed fabrics referencing Black culture and street celebration; and Nádia Taquary, born and based in Salvador, shows ‘Irókó: A árvore cósmica’ (2025), a bead-and-cotton installation inspired by the first sacred tree of Yoruba cosmology.
The Taquary piece was commissioned for the Bienal’s main pavilion in São Paulo — it now returns to the city where it was made.
Ming Smith’s 50 Photographs
The international highlight is Ming Smith, the first Black woman photographer acquired by New York’s MoMA: more than 50 of her photographs come to MUNCAB, spanning the Harlem years and Africa.
The selection includes images from her ‘Invisible Man’ and ‘Jazz’ series — the latter holding portraits of Pharoah Sanders, Sun Ra and Billy Higgins.
Why MUNCAB Changes the Equation
Placing the show in MUNCAB rather than the modern art museum reframes it: works about Afro-diasporic memory inside an institution built to preserve exactly that memory, in the heart of the Pelourinho-era historic center.
The project also includes an educational program: training for local teams, guided visits, talks, laboratories for teachers and activities for students.
Planning the Visit
The museum sits at Rua das Vassouras, 25, in the historic center — walkable from the Elevador Lacerda and the Pelourinho circuit.
Free days are Wednesdays and Sundays; for a quieter visit, weekday mornings are the historically calm slots. Combine it with the surrounding Centro Histórico for a full day.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the 36th Bienal de São Paulo exhibition in Salvador?
The traveling exhibition runs September 5 to November 29, 2026, at MUNCAB (Museu Nacional da Cultura Afro-Brasileira), Rua das Vassouras, 25, in Salvador’s historic center — Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Is the Bienal exhibition in Salvador free?
Entry is R$ 20 (full) and R$ 10 (half-price), and admission is free on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Which artists are in the Salvador Bienal exhibition?
Fourteen artists, including Salvador-based Nádia Taquary, Alberto Pitta, Antonio Társis, American photographer Ming Smith, Haitian artist Myrlande Constant, Korakrit Arunanondchai and Manauara Clandestina.
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Sources: Alô Alô Bahia; Fundação Bienal de São Paulo.
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