Check out what São Paulo has in store for January: exhibitions in their final moments, highly anticipated movie premieres, and theater plays that are buzzing around the city.
Submitted at Feb 9, 2026, 8:00 AM
Autorretrato no estúdio com sua câmera fotográfica, Rue Daguerre, Paris, 1956. Impressão digital póstuma a partir de negativo 6x6 © Espólio Agnès Varda. Fundo Agnès Varda, em empréstimo de longa duração ao Institut pour la photographie (IMS/Divulgação)
On stage, the city continues to move with shows starring great names, confirming February as a strong month for theater. In movie theaters, film premieres prominent in the international circuit continue, maintaining the cinephile marathon in full swing during the award season.
Next, check out the unmissable highlights to enjoy the best of Paulist culture at the start of the year.
After her participation at CASACOR São Paulo in 2025, Juliana dos Santos now occupies Pina Contemporary with the exhibition “Temporã”, on display until February 8, 2026. The first artist selected by the new residency of the Pinacoteca in partnership with Chanel, Juliana presents an installation that investigates natural pigments and their transformation over time, highlighting the blue extracted from the flower Clitoria ternatea.
When: Until February 8, 2026
Where: Pina Contemporary Building - Avenida Tiradentes, 273, Luz, São Paulo - SP.
Juliana dos Santos: Temporã - Pina Contemporânea (Levi Fanan/Divulgação)
The MIS (Museum of Image and Sound) inaugurates the unprecedented exhibition The Human Soul, You and Jung's Universe, in honor of the 150th anniversary of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung. The show proposes an immersive experience into the human psyche, exploring three dimensions: pedagogical, sensorial, and provocative.
When: Until March 1, 2026
Where: MIS (Avenida Europa, 158 – Jd. Europa).
A alma humana, você e o universo de Jung (Divulgação/Divulgação)
The Pinacoteca presents “Carnival Work”, a collective exhibition with works by 70 artists from different generations. With around 200 works among props, records, and unpublished projects, the exhibition reveals Carnival as a productive chain that unites creativity and the often invisible work behind the celebration.
When: Until April 12, 2026
Where: Pina Contemporary Building - Av. Tiradentes, 273, Luz, São Paulo - SP.
Trabalho de Carnaval- Pinacoteca (Levi Fanan/Divulgação)
The exhibition brings the 19th and 21st centuries closer by revisiting the legacy of Jean-Baptiste Debret, especially Voyage pittoresque et historique au Brésil, through the interpretations of 20 contemporary Brazilian artists. Curated by Jacques Leenhardt and Gabriela Longman, the exhibition puts in dialogue the iconography of Imperial Brazil and current reinterpretations that question the slaveholding past and propose new visual narratives.
When: Until May 17, 2026
Where: Museum of Ipiranga - Rua dos Patriotas, 100 – Ipiranga, São Paulo - SP.
Obra “Arqueiro digital” (2017), de Denilson Baniwa (Divulgação/Divulgação)
Japan House São Paulo presents the exhibition “Imbued with the forces of Japan's forests – Masters of Carpentry: Skill and Spirit”, which introduces the audience to the tradition of Japanese carpentry. Curated by Marcelo Nishiyama, the exhibition highlights the deep relationship Japan has with its forests and reveals how master carpenters, guided by respect for nature, develop refined techniques that dispense with the use of nails or metal.
When: Until April 5, 2026
Where: Japan House - Av. Paulista, 52, São Paulo - SP.
Carpintaria japonesa é tema de exposição na Japan House (David Barkan/Divulgação)
At IMS Paulista, a set of about 200 photographs taken by Agnès Varda (1928–2019) between the 1950s and 1960s is presented, in dialogue with her film work. Many of these images, never before exhibited, record her travels through China, Cuba, France, Portugal, and the United States, revealing the sensitive and attentive gaze of the Franco-Belgian filmmaker and photographer on everyday life, politics, and the people she encountered throughout her journey.
When: Until April 12, 2026
Where: IMS Paulista - Avenida Paulista, 2424, São Paulo - SP
![Carnival Tuesday, Luxembourg Garden [Mardi Gras, Jardin du Luxembourg], Paris, 1953. Posthumous digital print from 6x6 negative © Espólio Agnès Varda. Agnès Varda Collection, on long-term loan to the Institut pour la photographie](https://cdn.assets-casacor.tec.br/file/casacor-images-news/2026/01/arch-656-viva-varda-1500px-rbwxeins.webp "arch_656_VIVA-VARDA_1500px")
The exhibition “Radical Imagination: 100 Years of Frantz Fanon” at the Museum of Favelas celebrates the legacy of Martinican thinker Frantz Fanon and his influence in the 20th and 21st centuries. Bringing together more than 130 works by artists from eight countries, the exhibition relates his ideas to contemporary art, highlighting themes such as identity, body, territory, and dream. Organized in four axes, it invites the public to reflect on imagination as a tool for social transformation.
When: Until May 24, 2026
Where: Museum of Favelas - Largo Páteo do Colégio, 148, Historical Center of São Paulo
Águas Subterrâneas: Narrativas de Confluências (Divulgação/Divulgação)
Initially presented in France between May and September of 2025, and now in Brazil, the collective exhibition is organized in two stages and proposes a dialogue between contemporary artists about rivers and their cultural, historical, and projectual dimensions. From an imagined encounter between the Charente river and Paulista waterways, like the Tietê, the exhibition gathers twelve French and Brazilian artists in reflections on water scarcity, colonial and extractive legacies, urban infrastructure, and climate change.
When: Until March 8
Where: Tomie Ohtake Institute (R. Coropés, 88 - Pinheiros)
Minerva Cuevas: ecologia social (MASP/Divulgação)
The largest solo exhibition by the artist ever held in Brazil, the show brings together 42 works produced over nearly three decades and concludes the annual cycle Stories of Projects, dedicated to investigating the relationships between projects, politics, and ways of living. Curated by André Mesquita, the exhibition proposes a critical reading of the environmental crisis as an expression of social structures, highlighting the use of symbols of global consumption to evidence inequalities, economic tensions, and disputes over natural resources.
When: Until April 12
Where: MASP (Av. Paulista, 1578 - Bela Vista)
One of the biggest recent successes on the stages in Brazil and Portugal, the play Two of Us returns on stage in São Paulo starting January 15, after reaching over 200,000 spectators. The show features Antonio Fagundes and Christiane Torloni, who act together in theater for the first time, alongside Thiago Fragoso and Alexandra Martins.
Where: Teatro Tuca (Rua Monte Alegre, 1024- Perdizes, São Paulo- SP)
When: Season from 01/15/2026 to 05/17/2026
Tickets: https://bileto.sympla.com.br/event/112485/d/345422/s/2337811
Dois de Nós. Peça no Teatro TUCA- São Paulo, SP (Divulgação/Divulgação)
With the premiere set for February 26, TINA – Tina Turner The Musical arrives in Brazil as part of the commemorative programming for the 10th anniversary of Teatro Santander in São Paulo. In a limited season until July 12, the show—created in collaboration with Tina Turner and nominated for 12 Tony Awards—will feature Analu Pimenta in the lead role and César Mello as Ike Turner. The rest of the cast will be announced soon.
When: From February 26 to April 12
Times: Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at 8:00 PM, Saturday at 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM, Sunday at 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM
Where: Teatro Santander (Avenida Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek, 2041, São Paulo - SP)
Um dia muito especial (Divulgação/Divulgação)
Directed by Alexandre Reinecke, A Very Special Day revisits a classic of Italian cinema to reflect on love, prejudice, and transformation. Set in Rome in 1938, the plot follows the encounter between Antonietta and Gabriele, played by Reynaldo Gianecchini and Maria Casadevall, whose lives intersect on the margins of a major fascist event, giving rise to a relationship capable of changing both in just one day.
When: Until February 15
Times: Saturdays at 7 PM, and Sundays at 6 PM
Where: Teatro Bradesco (Rua Palestra Itália, No. 500 - Store 263 - 3rd Floor)
In a solo performance by Danielle Winits, directed by Gerald Thomas, the play combines humor and social critique to reflect on human contradictions, the place of women, and contemporary dilemmas. Written by Jane Wagner and originally staged in 1985, the work—immortalized by Lily Tomlin—uses the metaphor of extraterrestrial search to discuss empathy, connection, and meaning in everyday life.
When: Until March 29
Times: Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM. Sundays at 5 PM.
Where: Teatro FAAP (Rua Alagoas, 903 - Higienópolis, São Paulo)
CHOQUE! Procurando Sinais de Vida Inteligente (Dalton Valerio/Divulgação)
The story portrays the intense and conflicting love between Catherine Earnshaw (Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi), interrupted by social impositions. After Catherine decides to marry another man, Heathcliff leaves and returns years later rich and powerful, driven by a desire for revenge.
Premiere: February 12
o morro dos ventos uivantes (Divulgação/Divulgação)
A new Ghostface threatens the tranquility of the city where Sidney Prescott lives, putting her daughter in the killer's sights. To protect her family, Sidney is forced to confront past traumas and try to put an end to the pursuit.
Premiere: February 26
Pânico 7 (Divulgação/Divulgação)
Lionel (Paul Mescal), a music student, reunites with David years after meeting at the Boston Conservatory. United by folk music, the two embark on a journey through Maine to record traditional songs—a journey that gives rise to a romance and ultimately transforms Lionel's destiny.
Premiere: February 26
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