Souffles: On Deep Listening and Active Reception

36th Bienal de São Paulo

Forthcoming September 2025

Souffles: On Deep Listening and Active Reception examines listening as a practice of coexistence, the precarity of breath, and the cultural traditions of Gnawa and Sufi communities. The book centers on the first Invocation for the 36th Bienal de São Paulo held in Marrakech, a crossroads of cultures, belief systems, and languages, with much of its vast knowledge transmitted through sound and gesture. Exploring how these sonic traditions are enacted, preserved, and passed down, the book borrows its title from “Souffles,” a poem by Birago Diop on the potential of listening to a plethora of beings, to consider ancient practices of deep listening—from the performative rituals of Gnawa brotherhood to the oral tradition of Halqa (people’s theater) in North African theater forms.

Contributions by Amina Agueznay, Miriam Alves, Leila Bencharnia, Omar Berrada, Simnikiwe Buhlungu, Thiago de Paula Souza, Ghassan El Hakim, Keyna Eleison, Maha Elmadi, Anna Roberta Goetz, Laila Hida, Taoufiq Izeddiou, Fatima-Zahra Lakrissa, Mirella Maria, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Alberto Pitta, Alya Sebti, and Kenza Sefrioui.

This title is the first 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