Summer has only just begun, but gnration already has plans for the final months of the year. From September to December, the Braga venue presents a diverse programme featuring concerts, exhibitions, dance performances, new creations, talks and thought programmes. Highlights include performances by Félicia Atkinson, Park Jiha, Angel Bat Dawid, Ex-Easter Island Head, Kalia Vandever and Midori Hirano, the live premieres of the forthcoming albums by Ana Lua Caiano and Travo, Joana Sá’s new performance, and a unique collaboration between MAQUINA. and Scúru Fitchádu. In dance, Fábio Krayze and DJ Poco present Beat, as part of the Zona Franca programme, while Maria Inés Villasmil unveils a new work created for the Guelra da Arte Total programme. The exhibition programme continues to explore the intersection of art and technology with two new exhibitions: Mankurts, by Olga Kisseleva, and Digital Dark Matter, by Rosemary Lee. Also returning is OCUPA, the programme dedicated to promoting emerging creators working in electronic music and digital art in the Braga district. Divine Time, the thought programme exploring art and technology, returns with three new conversations. In September, gnration is once again one of the venues hosting PARAÍSO, the programme celebrating Afro-descendant and Lusophone artistic expressions, with talks, a dance workshop and a community lunch. The online programme órbita premieres a showcase by Ensemble of Other Living Being and the tenth edition of Crossed Paths, featuring Inês Nunes, Tarta Relena, Saba Alizadeh and Anouk Moyaux.

Music Programme

The regular music programme begins on 18 September with the presentation of Kalia Vandever’s new album. A trombonist and leading figure in the jazz-ambient scene, she released her fourth album, Mana, at the end of June.

A week later, on 26 September, dancer Fábio Krayze and producer DJ Poco come together for Beat, presented as part of Zona Franca. Combining dance and music, this new performance builds bridges between Angola and Portugal and is co-produced by gnration and Centro Cultural Vila Flor.

Over the past few years, the Radiography cycle has showcased emerging composers from Braga working across the broad field of contemporary music. On 2 October, a new edition features pianist and composer Ana Teresa Pereira, presenting compositions inspired by the visual universe of Paula Rego, created especially for the programme.

A week later, Japanese composer Midori Hirano performs at gnration. Blending classical music with electronic experimentation and intertwining piano and synthesisers, she presents OTONOMA, released by Thrill Jockey earlier this year.

Also combining piano and electronics, Joana Sá presents Body : Territory — Variations on Restlessness on 17 October. Created through a co-production between gnration, Culturgest, Walk&Talk, Fundação de Serralves and Avista Vulcão, the work combines field recordings made in the Azores and the Serra da Estrela, including recordings captured during the 2025 wildfires.

On 30 October, Braga-based band Travo return home to premiere their forthcoming album. WASTELAND, inspired by T. S. Eliot’s poem of the same name, will receive its live premiere at gnration.

Straight from Liverpool’s experimental music scene, Ex-Easter Island Head are one of the most adventurous acts in contemporary British music. They create hypnotic soundscapes using modified electric guitars fitted with rods and mechanical devices, played through extended techniques involving mallets, bamboo and even mobile phone vibrations. They perform at gnration on 1 November.

With a new album on the horizon, Ana Lua Caiano returns to Braga on 6 November. Widely recognised as one of the leading revelations in Portuguese music this decade, the singer-songwriter premieres Devagar que a vida é curta, launching the tour in support of the new record.

The following week, on 14 November, American composer, clarinettist, pianist, conductor and DJ Angel Bat Dawid takes to the gnration stage. A leading figure in Chicago’s vibrant jazz and Black American music scene, she channels the cosmic energy of Sun Ra. With three acclaimed albums to her name, her work blends classical composition, gospel and jazz through an Afrofuturist lens.

Park Jiha also returns to Braga on 21 November to present her fourth album, All Living Things. Balancing tradition and improvisation, the South Korean composer breathes new life into ancestral instruments such as the piri, saenghwang and yanggeum.

A week later, on 28 November, French composer and visual artist Félicia Atkinson performs in Braga. Her music brings to life voices from landscapes, images, books and memories through the collage of field recordings, MIDI instrumentation and fragments of poetry. The concert is supported by Mais França, a programme promoted by the Institut Français du Portugal as part of Novembre Numérique. On the same day, Félicia Atkinson will also lead a masterclass organised by Circuito – Serviço Educativo Braga Media Arts, exploring the relationship between music and poetry.

The regular music programme concludes on 12 December with the meeting of MAQUINA. and Scúru Fitchádu. Developed through a residency at gnration, two of the most influential names in Portuguese alternative music come together for a performance that promises to be, at the very least, intriguing.

Exhibition Programme

From September to December, gnration’s exhibition programme continues to explore the intersection of art and technology with three new exhibitions.

From 9 October to 2 January, MANKURTS, by Olga Kisseleva, and Digital Dark Matter, by Rosemary Lee, will be on display. Kisseleva’s exhibition draws on a legend created by Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov, relating it to super-intensive tree-planting systems. Rosemary Lee, meanwhile, explores the concept of digital dark matter, a hypothesis that examines how dormant data within digital systems – such as webpages with broken links, little-viewed YouTube videos and the countless images that make up machine-learning datasets – can shape global digital culture.

From 4 to 19 September, gnration presents the exhibition resulting from Laboratórios de Verão, a programme supporting local artistic creation organised by gnration, CAAA – Centro para os Assuntos da Arte e Arquitectura (Guimarães) and SOLAR – Galeria de Arte Cinemática (Vila do Conde). Three new works will be presented: O que corre por baixo, by Bruno Mesquita, Quantos lados tem o monte?, by Marisa Fernandes, and Prova de luz, by Sandra Teixeira.

Also as part of Laboratórios de Verão, the audiovisual performance ENTRE-LINHAS, by double bassist Maria Amaro and visual artist Calgon, premieres on 4 September during Braga White Night. Throughout the same weekend, gnration also presents free concerts by Grupo Coral do Auto-tune (5 September) and Braga-based band OCENPSIEA (6 September).

OCUPA, PARAÍSO, Semibreve and the online programme

On 4 and 5 December, OCUPA returns to showcase emerging artists working in electronic music and digital art across the Braga district. Its eleventh edition features performances by BVHZ, I’A’V’, João MS, and José Gonçalves Rios with Israel Machado. The programme also includes the premiere of an audiovisual performance developed through the collaboration between ODE – Orquestra de Dispositivos Eletrónicos, directed by composer Pedro Lima, and Video Club, led by artist Bruno Rodrigues Martins. Also on display will be an exhibition by Video Club, a Listening Station featuring sound works by students from the Master’s in Media Arts at the University of Minho, and a talk exploring the role of festivals within a city's artistic ecosystem.

Earlier, on 11 and 12 September, PARAÍSO returns with another edition celebrating Afro-descendant and Lusophone artistic expressions under the theme Past and Future in Afro-descendancy. At gnration, the programme is entirely free of charge. On Friday, 11 September, gnration hosts a screening of Si Destinu (2015), directed by Vanessa Fernandes, followed by a conversation between the filmmaker and curator Kitty Furtado.

On Saturday, 12 September, the programme runs throughout the day. In the morning, Dori Nigro, Melissa Rodrigues and Raquel Lima present the process behind the Anti-Racist Manual for the Arts and Education. This is followed by a community lunch prepared by chef Ana Teresa Correia. In the afternoon, a further conversation on art, participation and practices of resisting coloniality brings together António Zaqueu, Luege d’ Olim and Sarina Azevedo, moderated by Luiza Lins. Before audiences move to Theatro Circo for the Cesária Évora Orchestra concert, the day concludes with a dance workshop led by Eddie Folige and a DJ set by DJ Chipula.

From 22 to 24 October, gnration once again serves as one of the venues for Semibreve, hosting the festival’s evening programme as well as an exhibition featuring works by students from several Portuguese universities. This year, for the first time, the festival is introducing a ticket that grants access exclusively to the programme at gnration.

As part of the online programme, the Divine Time video conversation series continues with Wendi Yan (16 September), Miriam Hillawi Abraham (14 October) and Dian Joy (18 November).

Meanwhile, the online programme órbita premieres a recorded showcase by Ensemble of Other Living Being and the tenth edition of Crossed Paths, presenting two new collaborations: Portuguese filmmaker Inês Nunes creates a film for a composition by Iranian composer Saba Alizadeh, while Spanish duo Tarta Relena compose the music for a film by French filmmaker Anouk Moyaux. This programme is developed in partnership with Canal180 and Culturgest.

Visit the gnration website here.