Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Art Business

First Advisor

Maria Sancho Arroyo

Second Advisor

Leo Krakowsky

Abstract

The 60th Venice Biennale (2024), curated by Brazilian curator Adriano Pedrosa, the first Latin American curator, and the first curator based in the Global South to lead the Venice Biennale, revived long-standing debates concerning visibility and marginalization, who controls canon formation and, in a market where visibility directly affects value, the power of dictating the market. The curator furthered this discussion by curating a show literally titled “Strangers Everywhere”, focused on representations by artists who identify as “othered”, through, for example colonisation and erasure of native cultures, immigration or queerness.  This thesis examines the evolving role of biennials as platforms for artist visibility within the contemporary art system, with a particular focus on Brazil. It analyses how exhibitions such as the Bienal de São Paulo and the Venice Biennale contribute to symbolic capital and institutional recognition, and how these affect long-term artist career trajectories. In parallel, the study compares the role of biennials to that of art fairs in the Brazilian context, regarding their capacity to generate gallery revenue and to support the economic sustainability of the nation’s art market. Using art-historical literature, market reports, and sector data, the thesis situates these exhibition models within larger global and national market dynamics. In that context, the thesis aims to reflect on whether the symbolic relevance of the 2024 Venice Biennale has translated into measurable market impact, or whether it ultimately reinforced the structural separation between visibility and economic value within the Brazilian contemporary art system.

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