The Governing Board of the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo has re-elected Andrea Pinheiro as President of its Board of Directors, consolidating the continuity of an administration marked by institutional innovation, expanded access to art, and the strengthening of the public role of the Bienal de São Paulo in Brazil and abroad. For the 2026–2027 biennium, she remains with the same slate that has accompanied her over the past two years: Maguy Etlin (First Vice President), Luiz Lara (Second Vice President), Ana Paula Martinez, Francisco Pinheiro Guimarães, Maria Rita Drummond, Ricardo Diniz, Roberto Otero, and Solange Sobral.
Pinheiro began her first term on January 2, 2024, with the goal of strengthening the Bienal’s governance models and reinforcing its public and educational role. Since then, her administration has marked a historic milestone for the institution by becoming the first woman to present an edition of the Bienal de São Paulo, a symbolic and structural milestone in the context of one of the world’s most important art exhibitions.
One of the main legacies of her first term was the implementation of a new governance model for curatorial selection, with the creation of a collegial committee to select the curatorial team for the 36th Bienal de São Paulo. The initiative will be repeated for the 37th Bienal. Another point of innovation was the extension of the Bienal’s duration by one month, allowing the exhibition to remain open in December and early January, during the school holidays, thereby maximizing its reach and its potential to democratize access to art. The change delivered results: the 36th Bienal welcomed 784,399 visitors, an increase of approximately 20% compared to the previous edition.
The emphasis on education as a tool for social transformation became a central pillar of the administration, guiding both the conception of the exhibitions and strategies for engaging with the public. This approach was expressively reflected in the results of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo, expanding the program’s reach by approximately 40% compared to 2023: there were 113,000 educational requests, more than 90,000 of which involved children and adolescents. Beyond its activities within the exhibition space, 25,000 teachers took part in training initiatives conducted by the Bienal. Partnerships with the public sector, NGOs, universities, schools, and a wide range of organizations enabled the exhibition’s content to reach new spaces and audiences.
Another innovation of her administration was the development of the Practical Bienal web app, marking the first time that artificial intelligence, image recognition, augmented reality, and accessibility features were combined into a single digital mediation platform, conceived from the ground up for a major international exhibition. By pointing their mobile phone camera at 30 selected artworks, visitors encountered IARA, an avatar fluent in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, which interacted with the public, answered questions in colloquial language, and guided users through a mediated journey enhanced by gamification features. This represented an unprecedented experience of integration between technology, art, accessibility, and visitor experience on the global stage.
The administration also continued the process of institutional strengthening initiated more than a decade ago, consolidating the Fundação as a financially sustainable organization with operational autonomy, a permanent technical staff, and governance practices aligned with the best standards in the cultural sector. In terms of fundraising strategy, one of the highlights of the administration was the auction of historic posters held during the benefit dinner organized in partnership with Rolex, which raised more than R$5 million.
For Pinheiro, the re-election represents the validation of an institutional project built collectively, with responsibility and a long-term vision. “Our commitment is to deepen the initiatives begun during this first term, strengthening governance, expanding the Bienal’s educational role, and consolidating its international presence, always understanding art as a field of dialogue and listening,” she concludes.
Following its success in São Paulo, in March the 36th Bienal de São Paulo begins its traveling exhibitions program, expanding the Bienal’s territorial and social reach to more than ten cities in Brazil and abroad. On the international stage, the new administration is projecting one of the most significant moments in the recent activity of the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo: Brazil’s participation in the 61st Bienal de Veneza, curated by Diane Lima, which will feature works by Adriana Varejão and Rosana Paulino, two central figures in Brazilian contemporary art.
The participation in the 61st edition continues a process initiated in 2024, when the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, in partnership with the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, led an architectural restoration project of the Brazilian Pavilion in Venice, a building owned by the Brazilian Federal Government. Scheduled for completion in April of this year, the intervention marks a new chapter in the pavilion’s history, which now presents a configuration aligned with its original architectural conception.
About Andrea Pinheiro
A leading supporter of art and culture, Andrea Pinheiro has served as President of Fundação Bienal de São Paulo since 2024, becoming the first woman to present an edition of the Bienal de São Paulo. Under her leadership, the 36th Bienal had its duration extended by one month and saw a significant expansion of the reach of its educational program, as well as advances in communication and accessibility initiatives. In her role as President of the institution, she also led Brazil’s participation in the 60th Venice Art Biennale and the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale, as well as the traveling exhibitions program of the 35th Bienal de São Paulo, which doubled its visitor numbers compared to the previous edition—demonstrating her administration’s commitment to democratizing access to art. She is also a board member of MASP and a patron of Pinacoteca. In the corporate sphere, she is a member of the Governing Board and the Audit Committee of Vivo, as well as a board member and member of the HR and Technology Committees of the Fundo Garantidor de Crédito (Credit Guarantee Fund – FGC). With more than thirty years of experience in the financial market in Brazil and the United States—particularly in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)—she brings extensive expertise in corporate governance roles, senior management positions, and team leadership. She was a co-founder of BR Partners, one of Brazil’s leading independent investment banks, where she was responsible for overall operational management, and also served on the Governing Board and executive committees. Previously, she was a director at Banco BMC, where she led its transformation into a niche institution specializing in payroll-deductible credit, a segment in which it became a market leader. Still at BMC, she oversaw its sale to Bradesco in 2007, remaining at the bank for two years as Director of Payroll Lending. Andrea Pinheiro holds a Master’s degree in Finance from the Stern School of Business at New York University and a specialization in corporate governance from the Wharton School. Prior to being elected President of Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, she served on its Board of Directors from 2019 to 2023.
About Fundação Bienal de São Paulo
Founded in 1962, the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo is a private, nonprofit institution with no party political or religious ties, whose actions aim to democratize access to culture and foster interest in artistic creation. Every two years, the Fundação holds the Bienal de São Paulo, the largest exhibition of the Southern Hemisphere, and its itinerant exhibitions in several cities in Brazil and abroad. The institution is also the custodian of two items of Latin American artistic and cultural heritage: a historical archive of modern and contemporary art that is a standard reference in Latin America (the Arquivo Histórico Wanda Svevo), and the Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion, the head office of the Fundação, designed by Oscar Niemeyer and listed as historical heritage. The Fundação Bienal de São Paulo is also responsible for conceiving and producing Brazil’s representations at the Venice Biennales of art and architecture, a prerogative bestowed upon it decades ago by the Federal Government in recognition of the excellence of its contributions to Brazilian culture