Chinese Zodiacs by He Wenjue. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The exhibition will feature paintings of two people with autism. Fang says he chooses the two not only as a response to the increasing global concern about autism, but also because Brazil has a museum dedicated to the art of autistic people.

Also on show will be a statue of Confucius created by Wu Weishan, the director of the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. It will be donated to the city of Curitiba after the biennial ends.

The second exhibition focuses on the dynamics of creation by young artists, how they address social issues and how they build a visual landscape that is different from their predecessors.