After three editions that toured different continents and waters, dialogued with local knowledge and practices in Marrakech, Guadaloupe, and Zanzibar, the 36th Bienal de São Paulo concludes its Invocations cycle – meetings that precede the exhibition and promote interdisciplinary dialogues about art, culture, and society in different geographical and historical contexts – in Tokyo. Entitled Bukimi no Tani (不気味の谷): The Uncanny Valley – The Affectivity of the Humanoid, the program takes place between April 12 and 14, 2025 and explores the complex relationship between humans and machines through sound, performance, and visual practices. The program is co-organized by the Bienal’s conceptual team with co-conveners Andrew Maerkle and Kanako Sugiyama, and Jordan A.Y. Smith as the advisor for the poetry program. The activities will take place at three different locations: The 5th Floor; Sogetsu Kaikan; and 21 KOMCEE West Lecture Hall, The University of Tokyo, Komaba Campus. To join the events, please register through this form.

With the participation of Asako Iwama, Bidou Yamaguchi, Cecilia Vicuña, Danny Jin, Gōzō Yoshimasu, Hikaru Fujii, Hiroko Kamide, Hiroshi Egaitsu, Marylya, Multiple Spirits, Namichie, Natsumi Aoyagi, Sakisaka Kujira, Shiori Watanabe, SRCFLP, T-Michael, Takako Arai, Takashi Ikegami, Tavia Nyong’o, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Tourmaline, You Nakai, Yuki Iiyama, Yūki Nagae, Yukie Kamiya, Yuko Hasegawa & Zai Nomura.

Inspired by the concept of the ‘uncanny valley’ proposed by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori in 1970, the Tokyo Invocation reflects on the ambiguities of the human in the face of technology and the issues that emerge at the intersection between art, artificial intelligence, and corporeality. The event will address issues such as the impact of artificial intelligences on artistic creation, the performativity of machines, and the affective dimension of the relationship between humans and automated devices. It will also discuss the evolution of robotics and its relationship with Japanese culture and history, ranging from traditional Noh to advanced humanoid robots equipped with embedded learning autonomy systems, along with the concept of Zen. Under the curatorial direction of Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, accompanied by co-curators Alya Sebti, Anna Roberta Goetz and Thiago de Paula Souza, co-curator at large Keyna Eleison, and communication and strategy consultant Henriette Gallus, the project is part of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo – Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice.

Global crossings

Since its first edition in November 2024 in Marrakech, the Invocations cycle of the 36th Bienal de São Paulo has established itself as a space for exchange and experimentation, promoting encounters between artists, researchers, and local communities. The inaugural Invocation, Souffles: On deep listening and active reception, proposed a reflection on circularity and listening as a practice of coexistence, based on Gnawa music and Sufi cultures, in partnership with LE 18 and the Fondation Dar Bellarj.

This was followed by the Invocation in Guadeloupe, entitled Bigidi mè pa tonbé! [Totter, but never fall!] held in December of the same year, and anchored in dance as its central axis, connecting the body’s movements to narratives of resistance and ancestry, with activities held in the Lafabri’k space. In February 2025, in Zanzibar, Mawali-Taqsim: Improvisation as space and technology of humanity explored musicality and improvisation as cultural technologies, in collaboration with the Dhow Countries Music Academy.

About the Invocations

In preparation for the 36th Bienal de São Paulo – Not All Travellers Walks Roads – Of Humanity as Practice, and to introduce and tune in to the conceptual thread, a series of public programs called Invocations takes place in four different cities around the world: Marrakech; Guadeloupe; Zanzibar; and Tokyo.

Each edition mirrors the exhibition concept of Humanity as Practice from a specific local context, reconfiguring and expanding it through live events and a publication. The aim of the Invocations is to expand the vocabulary of humanity, at points of intersection between different longitudes and latitudes.

If humanity were a verb, how would it be conjugated in these different geographies? The Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambéty once described film – and therefore art – as “la grammaire de ma grande mère” [my grandmother’s grammar], alluding to the familiarity of art, the intergenerational aspects of artistic practices, the colloquialism of art and art/artistic practice as grammar. The four Invocations will explore how artistic practices around the globe help to situate, enrich and expand these grammars.

Program:

April 12, 2025, Sat, The 5th Floor

4pm – 8pm Screening program: Hikaru Fujii, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Tourmaline & Yuki Iiyama

[Will remain on view on April 13 and 14, from 1pm to 8pm]

4:30pm – 5pm Welcoming note by Andrew Maerkle, Kanako Sugiyama, Keyna Eleison, Thiago de Paula Souza, and Tomoya Iwata

5pm – 5:30pm Poetry reading by Sakisaka Kujira

5:30pm – 7:30pm Live broadcasting session by Multiple Spirits (Mai Endo & Mika Maruyama) with MadokaShitone, Marina Lisa Komiya & Shiori Watanabe: 触手の約束 ???? Tentacle Cross

April 13, 2025, Sun, Sogetsu Kaikan

11am – 11:30am Welcoming note by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung

11:30am –12:10pm Poetry performance by Gōzō Yoshimasu and Marylya

12:10pm –12:30pm Listening session of Rain Dreamed by Sound: Homage to Theresa Hak Kyung Cha by Cecilia Vicuña

12:40pm – 1:25pm Lecture-performance by You Nakai with Moe Tomita: Of Stone and Sand (parables one and two)

2:30pm – 2:45pm Intervention by Multiple Spirits

2:45pm – 3:45pm Conversation between Shiori Watanabe, Bidou Yamaguchi, and Yukie Kamiya on Noh, technologies, and affectivities

3:50pm – 4:05pm Experimental poetry reading by Yūki Nagae on Conceição Evaristo

4:20pm – 5:20pm Food workshop by Asako Iwama

4:35pm – 5:20pm Intervention by Multiple Spirits

5:25pm – 5:55pm Lecture by Hiroshi Egaitsu on Shinjuku Bladerunners on Japanese Hip Hop

6pm – 6:40pm Rap performances on the theme of Uncanny Valley by Namichie, Danny Jin, and SRCFLP

7pm – 8pm Contemporary Noh presentation by Shiori Watanabe: Iruma River

April 14, 2025, Mon, 21 KOMCEE West Lecture Hall, The University of Tokyo, Komaba Campus (Organized in partnership with the Art Center, The University of Tokyo)

4pm – 4:15pm Welcoming note by Andrew Maerkle and Kenji Kajiya, director of the Art Center, The University of Tokyo

4:15pm – 4:30pm Poetry reading by Takako Arai

4:30pm – 5:15pm Conversation between T-Michael and Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung on design technologies, cross-geographic dialogues, and emotional intelligence

5:25pm – 6:25pm Roundtable discussion with Hiroko Kamide, Takashi Ikegami, Yuko Hasegawa, and Zai Nomura on robotics, mind, and art 

6:30pm – 6:45pm Poetry reading by Natsumi Aoyagi

6:45pm – 8pm Lecture by Tavia Nyong’o and conversation on the uncanny valley and the depressed cyborg

Know more about the participants here.

Service
36th Bienal de São Paulo – Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice

Chief curator: Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung / Co-curators: Alya Sebti, Anna Roberta Goetz, Thiago de Paula Souza / Co-curator at large: Keyna Eleison / Strategy and communications advisor: Henriette Gallus

Invocation #4 – Tokyo, Japan
Bukimi no Tani (不気味の谷): The Uncanny Valley – The Affectivity of the Humanoid
April 12–14, 2025
Co-conveners: Andrew Maerkle and Kanako Sugiyama
Poetry program advisor: Jordan A.Y. Smith
Local producer: Tomoya Iwata
free admission after registration through this form
limited capacity

The 5th Floor
Apr 12, 4pm – 8pm
Apr 13 and 14, 1pm – 8pm: screening program
3 Chome-3-9 Ikenohata 5F, Taito-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Sogetsu Kaikan
Apr 13, 11am – 8pm
7 Chome-2-21 Akasaka, Minato City, Tokyo, Japan

21 KOMCEE West Lecture Hall, The University of Tokyo, Komaba Campus
Apr 14, 4pm – 8pm
3 Chome-8-1 Komaba, Meguro City, Tokyo, Japan