SP-Arte Rotas crosses the border and brings Latin America into the conversation

The SP-Arte Rotas has reached its fifth edition, accomplishing what it set out to do since 2022, and a little more. The fair was born to delve into Brazilian art produced outside the Rio-São Paulo axis, and in this edition, it extends its reach to its neighbors: galleries from Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia, and Italy are joining in, following the expansion movement that began in 2025. There will be 70 galleries, in addition to museums and special projects, at the ARCA in São Paulo, from August 26 to 30.

The house rule remains the same and is what sets Rotas apart from a common fair: each booth presents an unprecedented project, developed specifically for the event. It is not a showcase of the collection, but a curatorial proposal by each gallery. In practice, this often highlights artists and movements that circulate only regionally, and names that are yet to emerge.

Those arriving from outside

The Latin American expansion brings Sur from Uruguay, Barro, Isla Flotante, and W-galería from Argentina, and Casa Zirio from Colombia. The Italian Orma completes the foreign lineup.

Among the Brazilian debuts are Apartamento 61, Boi, Casa do Povo, Casa Seva, Errol Flynn, Gruta, Jaider Esbell, Lucas Recchia, Midlej, Ocupá, Pórtico and Refresco. They share the corridors with long-established houses like Almeida & Dale, Casa Triângulo, DAN, Flexa, Galatea, Gomide&Co, Luciana Brito, Marilia Razuk and Vermelho.

The Brazilian map of the fair is its argument, featuring Lima from São Luís do Maranhão, Karandash from Alagoas, Cave and Leonardo Leal from Ceará, Marco Zero from Pernambuco, Paulo Darzé and Midlej from Bahia, and Cerrado and Karla Osório from the Centro-Oeste.

The projects that explain the fair

Four of them clearly convey what Rotas aims to be. Sertão Negro is a workshop-school founded by Dalton Paula in Goiânia, which will be five years old in 2026, the same age as the fair. Galeria Ocupá works to create bridges between the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro and artists from peripheral territories in the city. Galeria Jaider Esbell de Arte Indígena Contemporânea is an independent collective space in Boa Vista, Roraima, dedicated to the production of indigenous artists.

And Casa do Povo presents a set of paintings by Maxakali artists from the Aldeia-Escola-Floresta, a project in the Itamunheque region of Teófilo Otoni, conceived by Sueli and Isael Maxakali.

What to see at the stands

The W-galería brings together Mónica Millán, Chonon Bensho, and Florencia Sadir around textile, indigenous, and ancestral knowledge, based on the work Millán has been developing since 2002 with weavers and embroiderers from Yataity, in Paraguay. Leme gathers Sandra Gamarra Heshiki, Olinda Silvano Inuma, and Jorge Enciso in a project about Latin American indigenous knowledge. Marilia Razuk articulates territory, nature, and memory with Manuel Brandazza, Lucia Pizzani, and Lucélia Maciel.

Portas Vilaseca proposes an affective cartography of the North and Northeast with amorí, Marcone Moreira, Samara Paiva, and Zé Carlos Garcia. Marco Zero presents a show curated by Cristiano Raimondi around the idea of enchantment, with Chacha Barja, Kuenan Mayu, Rayana Rayo, and Tunga. Karandash exhibits a selection of Brazilian popular production with Maria Amélia Vieira, Dalton Costa, Mestre Manoel da Marinheira, and Jasson.

A Orma, em parceria com a brasileira MaPa, une a produção histórica de Sérgio Lima à pesquisa de Luciano Maia sobre surrealismo, erotismo e narrativas amazônicas. A Mitre toma a encruzilhada como princípio curatorial, com Sandro Ayê, Gê Viana, Luana Vitra e Rafael RG. A Galeria de Artistas apresenta a individual "Canções de liberdade", de Raphael Escobar, sobre os cantos de trabalho historicamente entoados para coordenar esforço e criar senso de coletividade em atividades repetitivas.

Entre os nomes históricos, a Almeida & Dale põe lado a lado Eleonore Koch, Nelson Felix, Elena Damiani e Paulo Pasta, e a Superfície reúne Mira Schendel, Leon Ferrari, Antonio Dias e José Leonilson. A Aura mostra produção contemporânea de Uýra, Arivanio Kixelô e Ziel Karapotó. Entre as individuais, estão Arcangelo Ianelli na Frente e James Lisboa, Hiram Latorre na Martins&Montero, Antonio Poteiro na Errol Flynn, Mariana Tassinari na Danielian e Vivi Rosa na Janaína Torres.

Lookout and the expanded landscape

In the centre of the fair, the Mirante sector starts from the idea of an expanded landscape, treated less as a genre and more as a field for contemplating the relationships between humans and what surrounds them. The curatorship is by Bernardo Mosqueira, and within it memory, ecology, spirituality, politics, history and imagination appear intertwined.

Who signs the direction

The artistic direction of this issue is by Bernardo Mosqueira, Brazilian curator, writer and researcher who lives in New York. He is founder and artistic director of Solar in Rio de Janeiro since 2015, was chief curator of the Institute for Studies on Latin American Art between 2023 and 2025 and joined the curatorial team of the New Museum between 2021 and 2023.

Mosqueira received the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Curatorial Work in 2025 and the Lorenzo Bonaldi per l'Arte Award from GAMeC in Bergamo in 2017. She holds a master's in curatorial studies from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College.

Palco SP-Arte

The conversation program runs from Thursday, the 27th, to Saturday, the 29th, with artists, curators, collectors and other industry figures, and space for public participation. Among the guests are artists Ayrson Heráclito and Carmela Gross and curator Júlia Rebouças. The schedule is curated by Tamara Perlman. To take part, simply show up.

Service

SP-Arte Rotas 2026, from August 26 to 30, at ARCA, Avenida Manuel Bandeira 360, Vila Leopoldina, São Paulo. August 26 is reserved for guests. On the 27th and 28th the fair opens from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., on the 29th from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., and on the 30th from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets are on sale at the official box office.