Universo Refazenda

Universo Refazenda is a rural ecosystem of production, mediation and action-research currently in a phase of incubation and physical transformation in Alquerubim, Portugal. Conceived by Fabíola Gamon and Leonardo Batista — a family moving between Brazil and Portugal working at the intersection of art, science, technology and education — the project seeks to reconnect creative practice with the rhythm of the land, local knowledge, and ways of life that resist the accelerated logic of big cities. The initiative positions the rural world not as a place of isolation but as fertile ground for networks of support, memory and creation. It brings together several interconnected 'pathways': a living learning space where daily practice and experimentation guide knowledge (Lagar de Ideias), a market for fresh local produce (Mercado Refazenda), a house for gathering and reflection (Casa Refazenda), and an artistic workshop connecting creation to territory (Ateliê Refazenda). At its core, Universo Refazenda acts as a hub of sociocultural activation and community mediation, aiming to combat rural isolation by giving voice and visibility to local cultural expressions through open processes where tradition is continually reinvented. The project describes itself as a node of cooperation linking ancestral knowledge to the global economy, treating the territory itself as intellectual and creative raw material. Still under construction — both physically and conceptually — the building process is presented as part of the work itself, inviting a new rural imaginary where community, artists, and researchers meet.