After the famous “end of year lists”, which remember and celebrate the most relevant artistic productions of the last twelve months, it is time to talk about the 2024 programming. What will be the possible trends in the art world and what can be done expect from museums and galleries this year?
In such a large and diverse country, it is difficult to list the main themes chosen by artists and curators to be worked on over the next few months. However, the annual agendas already released by large institutions give some clues as to what will be discussed and proposed in 2024.
São Paulo, the great hub
In the city of São Paulo, the so-called “capital of culture”, a series of events should influence the national and international circuit of the art world.
In the Pinacoteca complex – formed by Pina Luz, Pina Contemporânea and Pina Estação -, important retrospective and panoramic exhibitions will be presented. In March, “Lygia Clark: Project for a planet”, will bring together works from 1950 to 1980 by one of the most iconic names in contemporary Brazilian art. Still in March, “Gervane de Paula: how good it is to live in Mato Grosso” will escape the Rio-São Paulo axis to show socio-political issues in the country’s Center West. From May onwards, the Chilean Cecilia Vicuna will receive an unprecedented solo exhibition, completing the triad of Latin American artists at the museum, along with “Marta Minujín: ao vivo” (2023).
Sun Clock (1960), work by Lygia Clark/Photo: Disclosure/Pinacoteca
In the year that marks the 60th anniversary of the military coup in Brazil, the Memorial da Resistência prepares an extensive program on the stories of the fight against repression in the country. Although it has not yet released its complete calendar, the Memorial presents the exhibition “Women in Fight! Political memory archives” until July, in addition to a series of events such as lectures and conversation circles to reflect on the past and present of Brazilian politics.
At the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art (MAM-SP), the 38th edition of Panorama of Brazilian Art, which takes place every two years. Entitled “A Thousand Degrees”, the exhibition seeks to address sociopolitical, historical, ecological, technological and spiritual issues. According to curators Germano Dushá and Thiago de Paula Souza, this absolute temperature of a thousand degrees “serves as a point of imagination to think about contexts with a high rate of environmental variation and situations involving combustion processes, electricity and friction”.
On Avenida Paulista, continuing the exhibitions that have been taking place since 2016 dedicated to different Histories, the São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand Museum of Art (MASP) will have a series of activities focused on the Stories of LGBTQIAP+ diversity around the world. The individual ones “Catherine Opie: The genre of the portrait” e “Lia D Castro: everywhere and nowhere” should open the debate on gender expressions and sexualities, which will be resumed at the beginning of December with “Diversity Stories”.
MASP will also be the protagonist of the second semester, which foresees the inauguration of the second building that will connect with the city’s postcard building, designed by Lina Bo Bardi, through an underground gallery. A project underway since 2019, the Pietro building will have 14 floors with 5 exhibition galleries and 2 multipurpose galleries and will accommodate long-term exhibitions of the collection.
Queer Serigraphies (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2007), Freedom for sensibilities (2018)/Photo: Eduardo Ortega/Masp
The issues raised so far are also present in other cities in Brazil. At the Pinacoteca do Ceará, for example, which opened in 2022, the public can visit “Leonilson: Protective and distant mountains, volcanoes, rivers, hurricanes, seas, abysses, and friendships”, with works that deal with topics such as consumerism, religiosity, sexuality and social behaviors. In Salvador, the Galatea gallery inaugurates its new headquarters with the collective exhibition “Cais”, which focuses on the production of 60 northeastern artists and dialogues with issues such as territoriality, ancestry and the formation of identities.
In Inhotim, Minas Gerais, it is possible to visit “Fourth Act – Quilombism: Documents of a Pan-Africanist Militancy”, which covers the trajectory of Abdias Nascimento as a poet, playwright, actor, writer, artist and politician. The recently opened Yayoi Kusama Gallery is also open, which pays homage to one of the most influential names in world contemporary art, known mainly for his immersive installations.
View of the exhibition “Fourth act – Quilombism: documents of a pan-Africanist militancy”, by Abdias Nascimento, in Inhotim/Photo: Disclosure
At the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro (MAM-RJ), in January, the tour of the 35th São Paulo Biennial. The exhibition “Choreographies of the impossible” brings together a set of artistic practices, cultural and social movements that deal with violence, the impossibility of life in full freedom and the limits of the idea of justice. At the Rio Art Museum (MAR), the exhibition “Future Brazil: The forms of democracy” it deals with the achievement of civil rights, reparation policies, reception and citizenship.
Trends from Brazil and the Global South resonate loudly on the international stage. There is great expectation regarding the work of Adriano Pedrosa, artistic director of Masp, in 60th Venice Biennale, the most traditional art exhibition in the world. With the title “Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere”, the curation will focus on current humanitarian displacement. Exploring issues of marginalization, deterritorialization and violation of territorial rights, the exhibition highlights problems experienced by both refugee people and those who are treated as “foreigners” in their own lands.
Adriano Pedrosa, current artistic director of Masp, chosen as curator of the Venice Art Biennale/ Photo: Daniel Cabrel / Masp / Disclosure