RAIA
An acoustic live performance combining music with short introductions to the viola campaniça, a traditional Portuguese ten-string instrument, and the cultural landscapes of the Alentejo. RAIA also presents UÁDI, its latest album, inspired by the Guadiana River and its cultural geography. An opportunity to discover the sounds, stories, and traditions of southern Portugal through RAIA’s contemporary musical approach.
Duration: 60 min. aprox. Adaptable to venue.
About RAIA
RAIA is a contemporary music project created by Portuguese musician António Bexiga, dedicated to expanding the sonic possibilities of the viola campaniça, a traditional string instrument from the Alentejo region of southern Portugal.
Moving between acoustic intimacy and electric experimentation, RAIA explores the relationship between sound, landscape and cultural identity. Rooted in Iberian rural traditions yet open to contemporary musical languages, the project transforms heritage into a living and evolving artistic practice.
The album UÁDI draws inspiration from the Guadiana River and its surrounding landscapes, exploring memory, absence and regeneration through a distinctive dialogue between traditional instrumentation and experimental sound.
About António Bexiga
António Bexiga (Tozé Bexiga) is a Portuguese composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer from Alentejo whose work centers on the viola campaniça, exploring the relationship between sound, landscape, and identity in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. Moving between traditional and experimental music, his practice combines composition, improvisation, and participatory processes, and extends through interdisciplinary collaborations with theatre, dance, film, and performance, activating cultural heritage in dialogue with present-day contexts.
His solo project RAIA is dedicated to reinventing the traditional guitar viola campaniça, expanding its sonic possibilities while keeping its cultural roots. Deeply connected to border landscapes, rivers, and cultural memory, RAIA explores themes of transformation and resilience. Its latest album, UÁDI, uses the image of a dry riverbed as a symbol of latent presence and renewal, proposing collective listening as a shared cultural space. He also performs with the collectives NUMDUO, C.R.U.A., Além Cabul, Lusitanian Ghosts, and Madraça, and is the founder of Cia Boa Companhia.
Tozé Bexiga has collaborated with national and international artists such as Kepa Junkera, Celina da Piedade, Omiri, O Gajo, Katherina Boutari, Lenna Bahule, Muhamago, Rami Helin, Mika Oulu, Walter Laureti, Trees Up North, Svavar Knutur, Sandra Della Pena, Flor Ruiz, Acetre, among others. His work has been presented at festivals, artistic circuits, and cultural institutions across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas, where he also leads workshops and artistic residencies that foster knowledge exchange, cultural transmission, and community engagement.
With strong experience in intercultural collaboration and participatory creation, he contributes to the development of contemporary artistic languages rooted in heritage. He is one of the composers of O Céu do Pastor, the music of Évora_27 – European Capital of Culture.
Music and videos
Album — UÁDI
https://mermaids.ffm.to/uadi (opens in a new tab)
Selected videos
RAIA — Uádi:
RAIA & Omiri — Saias da Cinza:
RAIA, O Gajo & Thomas Attar — Um Dia no Deserto:
RAIA & Fio-Manta — O Golpe:
RAIA — Live performance: