This autumn, the Bienal de São Paulo breaks new ground with Apparitions, a global AR expansion of the exhibition Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice. This expansion is powered by WAVA, a non-profit platform for augmented reality (AR) exhibitions.

In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, virtual copies, extensions or echoes of artworks from the Bienal will emerge across the globe, appearing context-specifically through geolocelised positioning, accessible exclusively on-site via the WAVA app, available to download free of charge.

From plazas to piers, courtyards to coastlines, Apparitions invites viewers to experience artworks from the Bienal in their own environments and contexts worldwide.

Building on the São Paulo Bienal's tradition of reaching beyond local borders, Apparitions expands the artworks from the exhibition into different locations worldwide, chosen by the artists themselves, as well as in Ibirapuera Park surrounding the Bienal’s iconic pavilion. Posing the question “If you could choose anywhere in the world, where would you like your work to be seen?", the artists extend their work to places of importance to them and to the work's context.

Apparitions suggests new perspectives on the idea of thinking globally while acting locally: artworks can speak directly to local histories, communities, and urgencies, while forming a globally distributed exhibition that reimagines the function and future of cultural institutions.

For many, international exhibitions remain out of reach. Apparitions offers a shift in direction. Rather than flying artworks to audiences, it allows artworks to materialise where meaning lives—in the artist’s hometown, in a place of personal relevance, or at the origin point of a material or memory. This approach transforms public spaces into hybrid meeting points, inviting different communities to take part in the Bienal without the need to travel to Brazil.

The list of artworks will be regularly updated on the São Paulo Bienal’s website, the WAVA website and via social media.  

Apparitions has been made possible through the genorus support of Aventis Foundation and the Crespo Foundation.