The Culturgest has announced its program for September 2025 to January 2026, featuring a tribute to José Afonso, a fusion of dance and cinema with BoCA – Bienal de Artes Contemporâneas, the Operafest festival, and the return of the play “Catarina e a beleza de matar fascistas,” already sold out.
The season opens with “Nôt” by Cape Verdean choreographer Marlene Monteiro Freitas, which also inaugurated the Festival of Avignon on Saturday, and concludes with “Canine Jaunâtre 3” by the Lyon Opera Ballet.
The Alkantara Festival presents creations such as Dorothée Munyaneza’s “umuko,” honoring Rwandan youth’s memory and creativity, and Francisco Thiago Cavalcanti & um cavalo disse mamãe’s “Cantar,” treating singing as an act of resistance.
Featured are the collaborative performance merging dance and cinema, “Ocean Cage” by Tianzhuo Chen and Siko Setyanto, in collaboration with BoCA, and Ana Rita Teodoro’s project “Sonhos Comuns,” exploring dreams.
In Portuguese theater, highlighted are “Burn Burn Burn” by Catarina Rôlo Salgueiro and Isabel Costa / Os Possessos, addressing historical erasure, and a musical and poetic tribute to José Afonso by Gonçalo Amorim.
“Catarina e a beleza de matar fascistas” by Tiago Rodrigues returns, with tickets selling out minutes after release.
Musically, Culturgest hosts the Operafest for the first time, debuting Philippe Boesmans’ opera “Julie,” followed by “Naquele Dia em Lisboa,” a cine-concert by Matthew Herbert and Daniel Blaufuks.
Brazilian jazz artist Hermeto Pascoal will perform his new album in memory of his wife, “Pra você, Iza.”
The program also includes electronic music concerts by Kara-Lis Coverdale and Fennesz & Lillevan, alongside Portuguese acts like Três Tristes Tigres presenting “Arca,” and Rafael Toral with “Traveling Light,” exploring the intersection of jazz and electronics.
A conference cycle promotes discussions on ecosystems, social justice, technology, and human narratives, featuring names like Marlene Monteiro Freitas, Ashley Shew, and Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida. Debates on techno-capacitism and environmental ethics, including the documentary screening Ecossistema Zero, are included.
The highlight in this area is the “Water — Ecosystems in Coexistence” series, from October to May, featuring artists, filmmakers, and activists discussing regenerative futures and ecological ethics.
In visual arts, Culturgest presents exhibitions by artists such as Germany’s Alexandra Bircken, Carlos Nogueira, Sara Graça, and Brazilian artist biarritzzz, spanning sculpture, drawing, and video.
The traveling “Joga o Jogo” series from the CGD Collection continues nationwide, with other exhibitions occupying spaces like the National Pantheon – Luisa Correia Pereira, “Possibilities of Expression,” and the Raiano Cultural Center — “House of Novelties.”
The film program includes the Lisbon Arab Film Festival (LAFF), Doclisboa, and for the first time, the LEFFEST festival, showcasing a selection of award-winning international films, panels, and parallel events bringing cinema closer to other arts and cultures.
Finally, the participation area strengthens Culturgest’s social commitment with collaborative and educational projects like “This Is Not a Cube,” “Three Times with Xullaji,” and the educational dance project P.E.D.R.A., engaging youth and communities in artistic creation processes.
