Italian art critic and curator Eugenio Viola will helm the XXIV Bienal de Arte Paiz 2025, announced Fundación Paiz para la Educación y la Cultura. The biennial will take place in Guatemala City and Antigua Guatemala from November 2025 to February 2026.
Currently Artistic Director of The Bogota Museum of Modern Art (MAMBO), Colombia, Viola is interested in performance and bodily poetics. Some of the major exhibitions he has curated include the Italian Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale (2022) and the Estonian Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale (2015). Viola holds a Ph.D. in Methods and Methodologies of Archaeological and Historical-Artistic Research from the University of Salerno.
‘In an increasingly interconnected yet fragmented world, art is a powerful medium to reflect, challenge, and inspire,’ Viola says in a statement. ‘It can offer different perspectives on reality, presenting alternative views to the contradictions of our contemporary era.’
‘With these ideas in mind, I envision a polyphonic, inclusive, and participatory project. It will resonate with the complex web of languages, religions, cultures, and historical perspectives that shape our globalized society while engaging with Guatemala’s rich and multicultural artistic ecosystem, which I have already had the privilege of experiencing throughout my career.’
