Bigidi mè pa tonbé: Totter but Never Fall

36th Bienal de São Paulo

Forthcoming in September 2025

Bigidi mè pa tonbé: Totter but Never Fall explores the intelligence of bodily movements as they navigate rupture and adaptation to maintain balance amid crises. The book expands on the second Invocation for the 36th Bienal de São Paulo held in Les Abymes, Guadeloupe, and reflects on resilience and the dynamics of movement to deepen understanding of how physicality and adaptability intersect with broader cultural and social challenges. At its center is the practice of bigidi, a core element of the Guadeloupean Gwoka dance, characterized by improvisation and alternating between moments of rupture and continuity in a constant effort to maintain balance. Léna Blou, a leading authority on this tradition, identifies bigidi and its mode of moving as the essential nature of the Caribbean being, which, in her words, “knows how to stabilize instability and transform disharmony into harmony.”

Contributions by Lazaro Benitèz, Léna Blou, Keyna Eleison, Anna Roberta Goetz, Etienne Jean-Baptiste, Lídia Lisbôa, Olivier Marboeuf, Michelle Mycoo, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Bruno Pinheiro, Santiago Quintana, Edinho Santos, Alya Sebti, Dory Sélèsprika, Anaïs Verspan, and Geordy Alexis Zodidat.

This title is the second volume in a series of a series of four educational publications released on the occasion of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo – Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice, curated by Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, with co-curators Alya Sebti, Anna Roberta Goetz, Thiago de Paula Souza, co-curator at large Keyna Eleison, and strategy and communications advisor Henriette Gallus. Taking its cue from Afro-Brazilian poet Conceição Evaristo’s enigmatic poem, Da calma e do silênco [Of calm and silence], the Bienal aims to rethink humanity as a verb, a living practice, in a world that requires reimagining relationships, asymetries, and listening as the basis for coexistence.

Each title centers on one of the four Invocations—gatherings including poetry, music, performance, talks, lectures, and workshops—organized by the curatorial team in four cities (Marrakesh; Les Abymes, Guadeloupe; Zanzibar; and Tokyo) in the lead-up to the biennial exhibition. Conceived as reflective and interdisciplinary extensions of the exhibition, these publications assemble texts by researchers, artists, and critics to foster dialogues between artistic practices and contemporary critical thought, with a strong educational focus.

Educational Publication Vol. 1: Souffles: On Deep Listening and Active Reception
Educational Publication Vol. 2: Bigidi mè pa tonbé: Totter but Never Fall
Educational Publication Vol. 3: Mawali—Taqsim: Improvisation as a Space and Technology of Humanity
Educational Publication Vol. 4: Bukimi No Tani (不気味の谷): The Uncanny Valley – The Affectivity of the Humanoid