Free Left Fair: a space for solidarity and creativity.

"I sense that our turbulent century, beyond the technological revolution, may bring something more important: the signaling of the beginning of a new level of human biological evolution, at the end of which the mathematician will walk hand in hand with the poet."

Nicholas Tabakis

The mechanistic and materialistic conception of the world, rooted in modern Western and secular society and even in the scientific mentality until very recently, has transformed the aesthetics and art of recent times into an automated formalism devoid of soul and life, of intuitive imagination, without vital conflict, leaving no room for the unexpected, the unknown, and the surprising.

The eruption of Cartesian rationalism in Western civilization, the triumph of Newtonian mechanism and order, led to a profound change in the modern mentality, the consequence of which in the Human Sciences and in life itself signifies a limitation within narrow aesthetic molds, subjected to mechanistic and technological formulations.

Today, this aesthetic mindset is about to change. The reason is perhaps very clear: simple geometric schemes are dehumanized, even unnatural, because Nature is largely chaotic. Simple systems do not correspond to the way human perception conceives the cosmos, nor to the way Nature generally organizes itself. And it naturally organizes itself from chaos.

However, chaos can be described, determined, and formalized with the help of a new geometry, the so-called fractal, which has emerged in the last decade. This new geometry, which allows us to make sense of chaos, find causes in chance, and determine the indeterminable, can be considered a true geometry of Nature, containing the laws and principles of a new natural aesthetic.

The very concept of chaos, as defined by common sense, does not do justice to what chaos represents in people's daily lives, in social and political relations, and in the very aesthetics of these relations and their consequences.

But I will stick to the subject of entrepreneurship fairs, in our case, left-leaning, principled solidarity, seeking to distance themselves from the liberal conception of entrepreneurship, which exalts individual success, the neoliberal myth of the "winner," of the first million, of the petit-bourgeois dream of wanting to be "one's own boss." From very early on it has been quite clear that we seek to bring together workers from broad sectors of artisanal production, from the simplest to the most elaborate, encompassing diverse services, and even the commercialization of "market" products that receive a reinterpretation, a recovery, a reworking that takes them out of the axis of economies of scale and places them within an authorial conception. 

This concept is necessarily permeated by a vision of fair and solidarity-based trade.

Our trade shows, from the very beginning, have sought to incorporate all these concepts that we embrace into their own organization and setup.

Not having individualized spaces or stands like corral stalls or "little shops," and not having a physical separation between visitors and exhibitors are deliberate choices.

There's nothing new about this. On the contrary, it's an old, tested concept that's still present today, as can be seen in various markets throughout Brazil, especially in the Northeast, and in several countries, not coincidentally in the peripheries, because the city center increasingly wants the shopping mall to be clean and fragrant, with spaces that are clearly defined, delimiting all areas and depersonalizing all relationships.

This concept, logically, has already brought us some friction, not problems, some estrangement, not on our part, and a relatively small number of dissatisfactions. But it has also brought us many important moments, mainly from the arrangements (in the chaos!) based on solidarity, tolerance, the creation of affective bonds and partnerships, not imposed, but created precisely from... chaos, resolved by solidarity and a broad sense of justice and equality, without anyone being "more equal than the other".

Aesthetically, it reflects in the presentation of the products, in the effort and creativity of the display, based on the first rule of our collective, obvious, but not so obvious: NEVER HIDE MY NEIGHBOR. The rule of the "market" and the capitalist conception is precisely the opposite: DON'T HIDE ME, don't invade my space, don't threaten my sales.

The result is a colorful, multicultural atmosphere, also reflected in the diverse and multicultural products that the fair offers, because it is a space where people with a multicultural and diverse spirit converge, sharing the same feeling of succeeding without having to "step on anyone's head," as the saying goes, and of being able to live with dignity from the fruits of their labor.

It's interesting to note that this somewhat more libertarian conception of organization has brought some pleasant surprises, such as associations and partnerships of SAME PRODUCTS, sharing the same space. They don't compete, they CONVERGE!!!

We, from the popular, leftist, solidarity-based, and creative economy, are indeed a new category of workers, and we are here to stay and take our place.

We are artists, mathematicians, poets, homemakers, single mothers, entire families; we understand politics, economics, and sociology; we play an important part in the planet's recovery because we respect the environment in practice, and out of necessity, we understand everything, or almost everything! And we wish ill on almost no one!