Universo Refazenda

Universo Refazenda is a rural ecosystem of production, mediation and action-research in Alquerubim, Portugal. It's still in incubation, and the site is going through a physical transformation. The project was conceived by Fabíola Gamon and Leonardo Batista, a family who move between Brazil and Portugal and work where art, science, technology and education meet. Through it they want to reconnect creative practice with the rhythm of the land, with local knowledge, and with ways of life that resist the accelerated logic of big cities. The project treats the countryside not as a place of isolation but as fertile ground for networks of support, memory and creation. It brings together four connected strands, which it calls “pathways”: - Lagar de Ideias, a living learning space where daily practice and experimentation guide knowledge - Mercado Refazenda, a market for fresh local produce - Casa Refazenda, a house for gathering and reflection - Ateliê Refazenda, an artistic workshop that connects creation to the territory Universo Refazenda acts as a hub for sociocultural activation and community mediation. It aims to combat rural isolation by giving local cultural expressions voice and visibility, through open processes in which tradition is continually reinvented. The project describes itself as a node of cooperation linking ancestral knowledge to the global economy, and it treats the territory itself as intellectual and creative raw material. Construction is still under way, both physically and conceptually, and the building process is presented as part of the work. Through it, the project invites a new rural imaginary in which community, artists and researchers meet.