watts – sound cycle | 29 & 39 January, central elétrica, porto
29 & 30 January 2026
CRL – Central Elétrica
Free entrance upon availability of the space
In 2026, we begin the year with WATTS – Sound Cycle. The 6th edition is supported by Criatório, the Portuguese Republic – Culture, Youth and Sport, and DGArtes – Directorate-General for the Arts, and presents a free program that seeks to map gestures of resistance and critical thinking, strongly marked by transdisciplinarity, through performances, concerts, and installations.
On January 29, doors open at 9:00pm with the installation Burned Cork – Resilience by Gil Delindro. On display throughout both days of the festival, this sound sculpture is a direct tribute to the centuries-old artisanal practice of Portuguese cork harvesters, while also referencing the wildfires that spread in 2021.
At 9:30pm, we present the concert and audio-book launch of Lugar X, with texts by Catarina Vieira and sound design by Artur Pispalhas and Yaw Tembe. Lugar X was a multidisciplinary creation for public space, developed between 2023 and 2025. WATTS marks the first presentation of the audio-book, which documents and fictionalizes the practices found in each territory, excavating the gap of the apparent opposition between pragmatism and poetry, action and discourse, solution and imagination.
We close the first day at 10:30pm with Lava Lavra by Gil Delindro, a performance that is part of his most recent project on the volcanoes Etna and Stromboli, where he has been developing extensive sound and video recordings, with special attention to low frequencies and infrasound.
On Friday, January 30, at 9:30pm, we present Belonging | E di | Pertenencia | Zugehörigkeit | Pertença | 絆, by Raquel André. Moving between Guinea-Bissau, Mexico, Brazil, Portugal, China, and Germany, this work is a journey that seeks, through conversations and life stories, to answer the question: To whom, to what, or to where do you feel you belong?
At 11:00pm, Maria Reis takes the stage with her most recent album, Suspiro… Crossing different emotional states and physical spaces, the concert explores the multiplicity of meanings embedded in Suspiro…, a breath suspended between fragility, resignation, and overcoming.
WATTS concludes with Violet, who comes on at 12:30am in DJ Set format, through which she explores and reimagines a revolutionary becoming: the history of dance music — from dub to drum and bass, from the stillness of ambient to the most restless techno — as a precursor of social progress.
The event is free of charge, limited to venue capacity, with ticket collection available from 8:30 pm on both days. No prior reservation is required.
The venue offers free parking, and food and drinks will be available for purchase on site.
Most spaces at CACE are accessible to people with reduced mobility; however, the outdoor paving is cobblestone and includes some inclined ramps.
