The São Paulo Art Biennial was founded in 1951 and has been held every two years since. It is the second oldest art biennial in the world after the Venice Biennial (in existence since 1895), which serves as its role model.
The Biennial was founded by the Italian-Brazilian industrialist Ciccillo Matarazzo (1898–1977). Since 1957, the São Paulo Biennial has been held in the Ciccillo Matarazzo pavilion in the Parque do Ibirapuera. The pavilion was designed by a team led by architects Oscar Niemeyer and Hélio Uchôa, and provides an exhibition space of 30,000 m². The São Paulo Bienal features both Brazilian and international contemporary art and is considered to be one of the most important large-scale art exhibitions in Brazil and South America.
Its initial aim was to make contemporary art (primarily from Western Europe and the USA) known in Brazil, push the country's access to the current art scene in other metropolises, and establish São Paulo itself as an international art center. Naturally, the biennial always serves to bring Brazilian art closer to foreign guests.
Like its Venetian role model, São Paulo hosts national presentations as well as international exhibitions held under the direction of rotating chief curators.
In addition to the art biennial, an International Biennial for Architecture and Design has been held since 1973.