The 36th Bienal de São Paulo, titled Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice, unfolded on 6 September 2025 tand runs until 11 January 2026 at the Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park. Curated by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung alongside co-curators Alya Sebti, Anna Roberta Goetz, Thiago de Paula Souza, and others, the exhibition features over 120 artists united by themes of movement, memory, migration, and human queerness.
Among this international ensemble, Mohamed Melehi, an emblematic figure of Moroccan modernism, stands out as a pioneer whose work resonates profoundly with the Bienal’s exploration of migration and cultural convergence.
Melehi is presented alongside other celebrated Moroccan artists such as Farid Belkahia, Chaïbia Talal, Leila Alaoui, Amina Agueznay, Malika Agueznay, Laila Hida, and Meriem Bennani. Together, the group represents the breadth of Moroccan artistic expression—from modernist abstraction to contemporary narrative and performance—and underscores the country’s dynamic role in shaping global art dialogues.
Alya Sebti, co-curator, remarked that Morocco’s participation “fully illustrated this mission: established figures such as Chaibia Tala, Farid Belkahia, and Mohamed Melehi assert a distinct modern identity, while contemporary artists like Amina Agueznay, Laila Hida, Leila Alaoui, and Meriem Bennani carry this legacy forward, establishing an international dialogue.”
Meleh remains deeply influential for his role in the Casablanca Art School, an avant-garde collective that redefined postcolonial Moroccan art by merging Berber visual traditions with geometric abstraction and rejecting Western artistic dominance. Learn More.
