Born in Benedita (mainland Portugal), Catarina Ferreira proved herself an ideas person from an early age. After studying Ceramic Engineering, her life's true vocation took her in a different path to kindergarden education. Her passion for crafts and cooking blossomed in the Azores, inspiring her to develop a space that would become “home” - Rotas da Ilha Verde, a vegetarian restaurant. Since then, several projects have arisen: 3/4 Hostel and Café, Louvre Michaelense, Primos, Fermento Pastry, or Calheta (to open this fall). Simultaneously, she has collaborated with several festivals and art institutions, designing food experiences that nurture and cultivate the gestures of coming together.

Catarina Real (Barcelos, 1992) works in the intersection between artistic practice and theoretical research in the Visual Arts field, mostly working with painting, writing and choreography in long-term collaborative projects that address the question of how we can better live collectively. She is a PhD student at the Center for Humanistic Studies at the University of Minho with a research that crosses art, love and capital. She is currently developing Color Therapy, a practice applied between color theory, postal art and choreographic intuition. She maintains a commentary practice - in the form of reflection texts, introductory texts to exhibitions, interviews and moderation of conversations - to the works and processes carried out by artists in her generational range, contributing to a healthy environment of criticism, collective and communitarian creation.

In the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, Cavalo Marinho is born – the musical project that brings together the Azorean singer-songwriters Cristóvam, Sara Cruz, Romeu Bairos, and Felix The First on stage, in a meticulously orchestrated gathering of inter-island unity. Cavalo Marinho is a fusion of talents, individual experiences, and deep friendships, born and nurtured in the volcanic islands, now coming together on a journey where each brings the passion of storytelling through music. With a repertoire of original songs written by the four artists, this project offers a captivating blend of folk and traditional Azorean elements, creating a unique and engaging musical experience. Legend has it that the project's name was inspired by the maritime culture and traditions of the islanders, as well as their deep connection to the surrounding nature and sea. Thus, Cavalo Marinho sails through the seas of imagination, guiding sailors back to the safe harbor of music and poetry.



> Cristóvam is a singer-songwriter born amongst the deep blue of the Atlantic and the lush green of the beautiful Azores. His debut record “Hopes & Dreams” was released independently in 2018 and since then he has toured consistently across Europe, sharing stages with artists such as Scott Matthews, Stu Larsen, Tim Hart, among many others. Throughout the years his ability to write and craft songs has earned the attention of international publications such as Earmilk, Rolling Stone or Atwood Magazine, with the latter stating: “Cristóvam is one to watch and one to listen to for some soothing folky, smoky goodness”. A songwriter at heart, he has also been recognized for his work with several songwriting awards, including a 1st prize at the International Songwriting Competition. His last album “Songs On a Wire” (V2 Records) is a cherry picked collection of 12 songs produced by his good friend and singer/songwriter Tim Hart from Australian band Boy & Bear.
 

> Sara Cruz is a Portuguese singer-songwriter. Her music is an immersive fusion of pop and folk, providing a deeply reflective sonic experience. Hailing from the stunning São Miguel Island, her music also reflects the incredible beauty of her homeland and what it’s like to live on an island in the middle of the Atlantic. Sara Cruz has been captivating audiences with intimate acoustic performances, often solo, taking her guitar across various regions of Portugal, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Spain, and sharing the stage with renowned artists such as Reuben James, Maria Gadú, or Nuno Bettencourt. Her music is an immersive fusion of pop and folk, offering a deeply reflective sonic experience.


> Romeu Bairos was born in 1992 in the parish of S. José, in Ponta Delgada. He developed his musical studies at the conservatory and later at the Hot Clube de Portugal. He released his first EP "Cavalo Dado" in 2019 and was a finalist in the Festival da Canção in 2021. He is part of the cast of the series "Rabo de Peixe," distributed by Netflix, in which he also participated in the soundtrack.


> Felix the First is what João Félix calls himself as a solo artist. Felix is a singer-songwriter born in Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira Island. He has been fascinated by the art of song writing since he was child – partly due to his contact with his grandfather, the poet Emanuel Félix, with whom he used to sit and listen to Bob Dylan and early Elvis records, and thanks to his older brother’s record collection, which included the whole Beatles discography. He began to play guitar at twelve years old, and putting down song ideas on a cassette recorder. On stage, his performances are intimate and with emphasis on songs and storytelling. He has played on several stages throughout the Azores with the group Contos & Canções, alongside his pals Cristóvam, Romeu Bairos and Sara Cruz. His music is based mostly on the acoustic guitar, singing voice and harmonica, and it bears the influence of American and British folk music, country blues, and troubadours such as Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, Elizabeth Cotten and Mississippi John Hurt. He released his debut record in May 2023 - The Orchard - produced by Rodrigo Rodrigues in his Soundivision Studios.

Daniel Wyche is a Chicago-based guitarist, composer, and improviser. Working with a wide range of physical preparations, extended techniques, and pedal instruments, his solo recordings and live performances are characterized by long-form structured improvisations and multichannel guitar. He has been a curator with the Elastic Arts Foundation in Chicago since 2013, where is work has been described as “crucial” by Dusted and “vital” by the Chicago Reader. In March of 2020, Daniel co-founded The Quarantine Concerts in collaboration with Chicago’s Experimental Sound Studio. The series has been widely praised as a model for online/streaming live music. Along with his solo guitar work, Daniel is involved in several ongoing collaborations, most notably the trio of Wyche, Mark Shippy (US Maple), and Ben Baker Billington, as well as new work with longtime collaborators like Patrick Shiroishi, Lake Mary, and many others.. His most recent solo record, “Earthwork,” was released on American Dreams Records in 2021.

Eduardo Fonseca e Silva studied painting at the School of Fine Arts in Lisbon and has been exhibiting his work since 2016. His recent exhibitions include Flat Affect (Cosmos Campolide, 2024), A Shifter Coming Home (Sala de Estar, 2024), and Half Empty (Buraco, 2024), among others in both Portugal and Italy. Eduardo’s work often features collaborations, notably with Francisca Valador. He lives and works in Lisbon.

Evelyn Rydz works across drawing, site-responsive installations, and community projects to reimagine our relationships with the natural world and with each other. Her practice explores connections between bodies of water, personal histories, consumer cycles, and threats to natural and cultural ecosystems.

Rydz has collaborated on community projects with the University of Massachusetts, ICA Watershed, Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art, and MIT List Visual Arts Center. Rydz is a Professor at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Inês Brites (b. 1992, Coimbra) is a Lisbon-based artist with a BA in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts of Lisbon and further studies at KASK Conservatorium in Ghent, Belgium. Since 2015, she has participated in numerous projects and exhibitions. Her solo shows include estrela-lágrima at 3+1 Arte Contemporânea, Lisbon (2024), and interroguei os espíritos dos corredores at Galeria Zé dos Bois, Lisbon (2023).

She has also been featured in group exhibitions such as Fictional Futures at Rua das Gaivotas 6, Lisbon (2023) and Quem nos salva? at Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Elvas (2022). Her work is part of notable collections like the António Cachola Collection (Portugal), the Serralves Museum Collection, and the Oliva Arauna Collection (Spain).

João Rolaça is a researcher, ceramist, cultural programmer and curator living in Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal. He holds a PhD in Sculpture (FBAUL + VICARTE) with the thesis Large Scale Ceramic Sculpture and its Firing Techniques, financed by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (2017-2023). MA Fine Arts, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts, London (2011); BA Sculpture, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Lisbon (2010). Collaborates with the association Oficinas do Convento since 2014, promoting and developing cultural and artistic activities linked to the earth and artistic ceramics, namely multidisciplinary projects, training, creation, exhibitions, and research. Collaborates with artists and designers in conceiving and producing ceramic objects, particularly of larger format or fired in alternative and experimental ways.

Magaly Ponce is a video and installation artist from Chile with a background in Graphic Design from the Universidad de Valparaíso. She has received multiple Creative Video Grants in Latin America, awarded by the Rockefeller-MacArthur-Lampadia Foundation and Fundación Andes. Ponce later earned an M.F.A. through a two-year Fulbright grant and an academic fellowship from Syracuse University. She is currently a tenured Professor of Art at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts and resides in Rhode Island, USA.

Her work explores expansive emotional landscapes through metaphor and design, ranging from whimsical poetic meditations to incisive political critiques. Constantly evolving, her art is rooted in playful experimentation across various mediums, including video, performance, digital printing, frottage, metal, watercolor, and drawing.

Maja Escher (b. 1990) Lives and works between Lisbon and Odemira, in the Alentejo region. Escher's artistic practice is rooted in collective and hybrid processes, incorporating drawings, found objects, and collaborative fieldwork methods. Her site-specific installations often emerge from shared moments—whether through conversation, a song, or a discovered object.

Escher works with materials such as clay, canes, rope, stones, and vegetables, integrating them with riddles, sayings, and songs. Her work explores the tension between spirituality and science, magic and technology, aiming to create constellations—spaces for connection and transformation, where the artist becomes many. She focuses on the relationships between beings, delving into the communal through celebrations, ancestral rituals, and popular expressions. Her work invites free affection and deep friendships through art.

Maria Appleton (b. 1997) is a Lisbon-based textile artist whose work explores the subjectivity in urban systems through color, form, and technique. Her practice involves dyeing, weaving, and printmaking, resulting in vibrant, layered compositions made from cotton, silk, and industrial fabrics. These pieces create abstract transparencies that question human perception, translating optical perspectives and bodily movements into chromatic imprints.

Appleton’s work engages the viewer as an active participant in a sensorial experience that probes the relationship between bodies and space. Her practice speculates on liminal spaces, emotional or physical alienation, and collective memory, often incorporating urban elements like posters, logos, and symbols. With a focus on socio-political issues such as climate change, social injustice, and economic systems, her works include subversive elements like a woven black stripe—signifying moments of pause or grief—blurring the lines between public and private spaces. Through her unique approach, Appleton creates cartographic compositions that evoke memories, dreams, and physical sensations.

Nuno Pimenta develops a multidisciplinary practice that articulates art and architecture. His work focuses on the appropriation and subversion of common construction elements and techniques for the creation of social and political narratives. He holds two Master’s degrees in Architecture and Art and Design of Public Space from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto (FBAUP). In recent years he has developed work in the most diverse artistic areas, such as temporary architecture, installation, public art, exhibition design and performance.

Odete works between performance, text, visual arts and music. Her work is obsessed with historiographical writing, using erotics and paranoia as two somatic ways of relating to the archival materials. She writes through her body, speculating biographies of historical characters through epidermic pleasures: fashion, personality, presence, fragrance, grace, sensibility. Lately she has been researching and working around building connection points between “effeminate” histories, from the baroque Castrati to the 19th century dandies.

Pedro Mafama is creating a unique narrative. The consistent mix of various electronic and urban references with traditional Portuguese music serves as a musical bed for current texts and songs, vivid and perceptible, of today's stories from any Portuguese street.

In 2021, the artist released his first album, "Por Este Rio Abaixo", where he managed to build a narrative that was readable throughout the country, touring the main national stages, performing in Spain and France, and also winning the 2022 SPA Authors Awards - Best Popular Music Theme (" Estaleiro"). "Estava no Abismo Mas Dei Um Passo Em Frente", his latest album (2023), includes "Estrada", which combines the cante alentejano (Mineiros de Aljustrel) with Portuguese rumba, "Preço Certo", a song inspired by traditional music and "Marcha Bonita", where Pedro Mafama is inspired by the city of Lisbon and sings a popular march to it. In this album, Pedro Mafama shows the result of years of studying Portuguese popular music , focusing on Portuguese dances, marches and rumbas, with compositions of his own, celebrating the current moment.

Reina del Mar is an alter-ego for a curator/organizer in a state of not-so-fluidness-mess. Creating fictions as a tool to disrupt outdated binary systems, giving space for collective building through curating, cultural hacking, music programming, dyslexic writing, sound making, and affections. Her research delves deeply into the concept of hydrofeminism, and ideas of flooding and floating in a post-capitalist landscape. She experiments with plastic product poetry PPP, a auto-theory that arises from the absorption and reinterpretation of advertisements and messages found in public spaces. Transforming these snippets of commercial culture into evocative sound mantras: sonic pieces that resonate with the underlying themes of excess, addiction, myths, and environmental degradation. This curatorial sound research was first presented in partnership with Radio Durian in Bangkok. Currently, she is one of the curators of Tremor Festival (Azores) and also a member of the trans-feminist collective Pedreira (Porto).

Where’s Nasty is Jason Almeida — a Cape Verdean-American creative director, dj + multimedia & event producer from Providence, RI. Almeida co-founded Stay Silent, a creative company that focuses on producing events, content, design, marketing, and products, as well as Trade — a non-profit art and creative entrepreneurship organization + gallery/retail space in Providence. He has collaborated with multiple entities and institutions, like Bodega, Converse, Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), New York University (NYU), the TNTH (producers of Henny + D’usse Palooza), Brunch Bounce, ‘47 Brand, 40oz NYC, Red Bull, Spotify, Pow!Wow! and the City of Providence’s Art and City Life Commission.