CHISARA, Anna Vis, Land Whales, SGO among first wave of artists for SQUARE festival's 2027 edition

The first names were selected with Square’s creative partners. Brazilian artist Anna Vis will premiere ENTRE MAR, a solo performance for voice, guitar, and electronics drawing on Brazilian traditional song, poetry, noise, and experimental vocal techniques.

London-based CHISARA bring their Afro-art-pop and poetic lyrics, while Luso-Angolan pianist, composer, and producer Gisela Mabel - selected through MIL - combines classical music, jazz, and contemporary composition with African and Brazilian rhythmic traditions.

Local Portuguese acts include Príncipe-signed producer Helviofox, selected by Filho Único, whose garagey take on batida caught the attention of the local label. I’A’V, part of the Lovers & Lollypops selection, work with electronic textures, flute, cello, voice, and poetry. And Chilean sound artist and composer Nico Espinoza, currently based in Lisbon, works with live electronics, spatial audio, and site-specific projects.

Further afield, there's Land Whales, the project of Martín Schellekens, guitarist/vocalist of the Cuban band of the same name. His solo work uses an experimental, stripped-back format built around guitar and voice and is cheerleaded by Buh Records. Nominated by Bantumen, Angolan artist LETUS combines semba with influences from gospel, jazz, R&B, salsa, and reggae. New York duo iD-sus bring together sonic and physical experimentation. Scotland-born, Copenhagen-based sister duo SGO - Steaph Chaimbeul and Ciorstaidh Chaimbeul - explore the expressive possibilities of harp, accordion, and voice. And from Rio de Janeiro, Crizin Da Z.O. bring together industrial hip hop, carioca funk, and electronica.

Further artists and conference speakers will be announced in the coming weeks. Early bird passes are on sale at squarefestival.pt/tickets, with General Passes at €35 for the first 50, rising to €50 thereafter. Pro Passes are €50 for the first 50, rising to €75 thereafter.