Under the slogan "art everywhere," the 3rd Mercosur Biennial featured Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Peru as guest countries. The 3rd Biennial fundamentally represented a transition to a new level of organization and professionalization that the Biennial would finally consolidate in its fourth edition. Without a defined thematic project, the third edition became best known for the creation of the "city of containers." Part of the exhibition was set up inside a series of shipping containers, covering a 60,000-square-meter area in Maurício Sirotsky Sobrinho Park, where 51 containers housed installations by 51 visual artists. This biennial was also strongly characterized by its pursuit of mapping emerging production and promoting a vision for the future, while also dedicating a large space to young artists. The curatorial project sought to emphasize the nomadic nature of contemporary art. In addition to utilizing unusual spaces not traditionally used for cultural events, other segments of the exhibition, such as the performance at the decommissioned São Pedro Psychiatric Hospital, also fulfilled the objective of showcasing the transience of contemporary art. Eighteen artists displayed their work in the courtyards and grounds of the hospital, a sumptuous building dating back to the time of the Imperial Government of the Province. In addition to offering a broad overview of contemporary Latin American art, the 3rd Biennial established a parallel segment of special exhibitions held at the Rio Grande do Sul Art Museum and the Gasômetro Plant. Among the exhibitions held, the one dedicated to the work of Edward Munch received a room on the second floor of the Rio Grande do Sul Art Museum. The 3rd Biennial also brought to the historic center an exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, which received a special room at the Rio Grande do Sul Art Museum. Exhibited for the first time in South America, the exhibition showcased 44 works spanning over 50 years of the work of the master of Mexican Muralism. Seeking to preserve the spirit of experimentation and emergence that characterized the 2nd Biennial, the curators proposed a perspective on painting that avoided a historicist or nostalgic perspective and fostered a dialogue with other artistic modalities, both two- and three-dimensional. Shown at the Santander Cultural space, the exhibition "Poéticas Pictóricas" sought to emphasize the expansion of painting beyond its conventional limits. The artist honored at the 3rd Mercosul Biennial was Rafael França. The 3rd Biennial was free and welcomed an estimated 600,000 visitors, far exceeding its initial target. To support its traveling exhibition, twelve participating artists presented their works at the recently opened Caixa Federal Cultural Center in Brasília, Federal District. Photographer Gal Oppido presented a photo essay on the 3rd Biennial's creation, a sort of behind-the-scenes look at the work that preceded the event. Source: "A Concise History of the Mercosul Biennial"