Braga 25 enters the last quarter of the year with multidisciplinary proposals focused on closing cycles that have taken place in the city throughout the year, with emphasis on the shows that will close the Portuguese Capital of Culture during the month of December.
Seara: A Música Portuguesa em Evolução is the culmination of the path that has been built at Clube Raiz, a project that values the region’s musical heritage. On December 19, Amélia Muge, Daniel Pereira Cristo, Júlio Pereira, Manuel de Oliveira, and Rão Kyao will come together on stage at Theatro Circo for a unique collaborative concert, accompanied by Miguel Veras and Quiné Teles. The repertoire combines original works and unpublished arrangements.
On December 13 and 14, Marco Martins will premiere Um Inimigo do Povo in Theatro Circo. The images of the 2024 episode on Rua do Benformoso, where around 60 immigrants, mainly from Bangladesh, were forced to stand against a wall with their hands on their heads for two hours, went viral and sparked public debate about the legitimacy of the action and the exposure of people with no criminal record. Around the same time, the director was considering adapting Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, whose text focuses on the conflict between the individual and the collective. The play, written and directed by Martins, is based on the testimonies and biographies of these immigrants, who are now involved in the cast.
The official closing of Braga 25 will take place on December 28, which will also be a moment of passing the baton to Ponta Delgada, the next city to receive the title of Portuguese Capital of Culture. On the stage of the Theatro Circo, there will be a formal moment between the two cities, with a celebration of the traditions of each region.
A month earlier, in November, the project O que fazemos com isto? (What do we do with this?), which has been exploring Portuguese colonial issues and legacy with a group of young people, will showcase the artistic objects that have resulted from these encounters. On November 20 and 21, a book of short stories and original illustrations will be presented, mentored by the writer Ondjaki.
These texts, written through real testimonies from the young people participating in the project, will serve as the basis for a final performance. The program includes a video installation by Diogo Gazella Carvalho, a tour of the marks left by the Portuguese empire in the city, guided by Chisoka Simões, and other moments of reflection proposed by the group created by the MigraMediaActs project, which will be attended by experts and academics.
Literature is the starting point for the Utopia Festival, which returns on November 14 to various venues across the city. The literature festival features performances, talks, and workshops with renowned authors, exhibitions, literary tours, and even activities for schools, with the aim of encouraging contact with different forms of artistic expression that stem from this everyday object. Of particular note is the premiere of a play commissioned from Tolentino de Mendonça, designed to be performed in places of worship. The world premiere will take place in the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception.
In the last quarter of Braga 25, the Cenários program also stands out, an initiative that is the result of collaboration with the D. Maria II National Theater. In the year of the Portuguese Capital of Culture, artists, thinkers, and the public are invited to learn about and discuss how Braga has interpreted this project, with a program that celebrates the dialogue between national artistic creation and the possibilities of connection with Europe.
The program offers a series of talks, accompanied by a creation by Mohamed El Khatib, A Vida Secreta dos Velhos (The Secret Life of Old People), presented at Theatro Circo on November 28.
Supracasa, Braga 25’s program supporting artistic creation in the performing arts, which selected five creators in 2024—and will continue in 2026—has two performances scheduled for the next quarter.
Performer Ana Isabel Castro presents Adoçar at Theatro Circo. In this dance show, which premieres on November 14, the creator reflects on what it means to sweeten as a synonym for washing, removing salt and sweat from the body and, consequently, making it sweet.
The second creative project — Búzio, by Ana Baptista — will be presented on October 31. In an exercise of research and autofiction about seaside tourism and contrasting realities, the creator takes as her starting point the typical Portuguese seaside towns that survive on seasonal tourism.
In October, the final chapter, Pipe Poetics, takes Scottish artist Claire M Singer to one of the city’s most emblematic churches, the Church of Santa Cruz. With a wide range of performances—both in electronic music and the visual arts—the composer is especially known for her experimental approach to the organ, where she skillfully explores harmonious textures and complex tones that transform into striking soundscapes. The concert is free and takes place on the afternoon of October 4.
Cinex also comes to a close with the exhibition that Laura San Segundo brings to gnration. In the exhibition Os Corpos de que nos Despedimos (The Bodies We Say Goodbye To), the visual artist takes around two hundred photographs from the early 20th century, showing portraits of women with their dogs, out of their original context. Through the use of archival materials, photographic and moving images, writing, and performance, San Segundo reflects on how we represent animal mourning, on the bodies we say goodbye to, and on the role that images play in this ritual. The exhibition can be visited between October 10 and the end of December.
Over the next three months, the Braga 25 mediation program will also close some program cycles. Porta do Fazer once again brings together experts in workshops dedicated to exploring the heritage of Minho from a contemporary perspective. The Porta do Comer workshops, which have been filling the Saturdays of many curious visitors, are now transformed into a Braga 25 restaurant, where the three dishes designed throughout the year by guest chefs can be tasted.
Also noteworthy is the unprecedented collaboration between the Electronic Devices Orchestra and the Choir of Cancer Patients and Friends, a community choir whose main objective is to combat the social isolation of cancer patients and their caregivers. This show, which will be presented on November 8 at gnration, is not only a unique and unrepeatable musical exploration, but also a symbol of collective healing through music and a sense of community.
The Braga 25 agenda for the last quarter also includes shows from the regular program of Theatro Circo and gnration, which had already been announced in July. Highlights include Oneohtrix Point Never, Bonnie Prince Billy, Jabu, Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo, Stephen O’Malley, among other international artists.