Michele Ciacciofera is the only Italian artist at the 2025 São Paulo Biennial
Michele Ciacciofera, born in 1969 in Nuoro, Sardinia, represents Italy as the only participant in the recently inaugurated 36th São Paulo Biennial. His installation, "The Nest of the Eternal Present," consists of a large nest made of earth and straw, containing three eggs and Brazilian bird feathers, encircled by four totems crafted using the pau a pique method, each adorned with vibrant papier-mâché bird heads. This work was commissioned by the Biennial and is backed by the Italian Cultural Institute in São Paulo and the IF Program of the Institut Français. Curator Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung chose Ciacciofera, who is set to showcase his first solo exhibition in Milan in late October and has plans for a project at the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense in 2026.
Key facts
- Michele Ciacciofera is the only Italian artist at the 36th São Paulo Biennial in Brazil, which just opened.
- He was born in Nuoro, Sardinia in 1969, grew up in Sicily, and moved to Paris in 2011.
- His site-specific installation is titled 'The Nest of the Eternal Present'.
- The work includes a large nest of earth and straw with three eggs and hundreds of bird feathers from Brazil, plus four totems built with pau a pique technique.
- The piece was commissioned by the Biennial and supported by the Italian Cultural Institute in São Paulo and the IF Program of the Institut Français.
- Curator Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung selected Ciacciofera; they met at a conference in Venice on artistic creation and neuroscience.
- Ndikung also co-curated Ciacciofera's participation in Documenta14 in Kassel and Athens.
- Ciacciofera's first solo show at Building in Milan opens in late October 2025, featuring works from the Mardin Biennial and the 2017 Venice Biennale.
- For 2026, he plans a project on memory actualization at the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense at the Museo della Grande Brera.
Entities
Artists
- Michele Ciacciofera
- Giovanni Antonio Sulas
- Giuseppe Quatriglio
- Matteo Collura
- Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung
- Lorenzo Giusti
- Maria Lai
Institutions
- 36th São Paulo Biennial
- Museo MAN (Nuoro)
- Documenta14 (Kassel and Athens)
- Savvy Contemporary (Berlin)
- Building (Milan)
- Mardin Biennial (Turkey)
- Venice Biennale 2017
- Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense
- Museo della Grande Brera
- Italian Cultural Institute in São Paulo
- Institut Français
- University of Palermo
- Artribune
Locations
- Nuoro
- Sardinia
- Italy
- Sicily
- Palermo
- Paris
- France
- São Paulo
- Brazil
- Costa Smeralda
- Kassel
- Athens
- Berlin
- Milan
- Mardin
- Turkey
- Venice
- Fanano
- China
- Africa