14th Bienal do Mercosul Postponed as Floods Ravage Brazilian State

The organizers of the FourteenthBienal do Mercosulhave announced the event’s postponement owing to the torrential floods that have in recent weeks laid waste to the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, just above Uruguay. The primarily agricultural region has since late April been relentlessly pounded by torrential rains that have to date killed more than 165 people and displaced some 650,000 from their homes.

Originally set to open in September in the state capital of Porto Alegre, where a number of the hosting venues, including the Museu do Trabalho, have sustained water damage, the Bienal is now tentatively rescheduled for April 2025.

“We believe in the transformative power of art,” said Carmen Ferrão, president of the Fundação Bienal do Mercosul, in a statement. “More than ever, the Bienal will represent a beacon of hope in the midst of everything that has happened. It will be an opportunity to highlight the resilience of a state in its reconstruction, resuscitating the artistic sector and attracting visitors back to the [state] capital.”

The sustained extreme weather has affected 467 of the coastal state’s 497 municipalities. A task force assembled by the Brazilian Ministry of Culture to assess the impact of the unprecedented rainfall reported that more than fifty of Rio Grande do Sul’s 378 registered museums have sustained damage, with nearly a hundred municipalities acknowledging damage to archaeological sites, libraries, and cultural venues. Among those harmed are the Casa de Cultura Mario Quintana, a museum complex in Porte Alegre, which saw its lower floors invaded by rushing waters, and the Museu Histórico Visconde de São Leopoldo, which lost documents, photos, books, and a 120-year-old piano to flooding. Several other institutions reported that they had been able to move their collections to safety ahead of the downpours.