Mercado Novo: A Forgotten Landmark Revitalised

Located in Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais in Brasil’s southeast, lies Mercado Novo (New Market), a vibrant city market with an intriguing story. Created in the early 1960s as an ambitious development project, it was intended to transform the city’s commerce and supply. Today it is part of the city’s nightlife and cultural landscape, bustling with locals and visitors in search of community and food, drinks, and art combining local traditions with innovation. However, for over half a century, Mercado Novo was underutilised and neglected, falling short of its grand aspirations. That changed in 2018, when a group of entrepreneurs sought to revitalise the market, celebrating its early artisans and suppliers and their importance to the identity of Belo Horizonte.

Visions for Mercado Novo: ‘The most modern market in Latin America’

By the mid-1960s, Belo Horizonte was approaching one million people and required rapid modernisation.[1] A concern at the time was Mercado Central (Central Market), a market operating since 1929 which began severely suffering from overcrowding and poor hygiene.[2] To address the need for a larger, better-structured building to the city’s traders, in 1962 the municipal government announced that they would begin building Mercado Municipal do Belo Horizonte (New Municipal Market of Belo Horizonte) in a plot of land once used as a tram shelter.[3] In turn, Mercado Central’s land was meant to be sold in auction. However, the market’s traders organised and collectively bought the property, preserving the site and resulting in Mercado Central being the most popular market in Belo Horizonte to the present day.

Mercado Novo was meant to be one of the most impressive architectural buildings in Belo Horizonte. City Hall envisioned it as “the largest and most modern market in Latin America”.[4] It was designed as an open-air market with four floors and was constructed with cobogó bricks- perforated concrete blocks allowing for natural light and ventilation.[5] However Mercado Novo was never officially completed. The construction company went bankrupt mid-operation and City Hall abandoned the project.[6] Though a small number of businesses occupied the first and second floors, taking advantage of the cheap rent, the building was largely unusable and a dangerous business venture, ultimately marginalised. For decades, Mercado Novo was a forgotten dream.[7]

Velho Mercado Novo (Old New Market): Reviving A Forgotten Space

Then in 2018, half a century later, a new vision for Mercado Novo was born. Led by Rafael Quick, a collective of entrepreneurs recognised the market’s rich heritage and potential to thrive.[8] This led to Velho Mercado Novo (old new market), a social movement aiming to reinvigorate the market and share its rich but long overlooked heritage. [9]

Under Velho Mercado Novo, the space has become an ecosystem of small creative business. Their Occupation Statute, Territorialidade E Ocupação, articulates their vision to foster opportunities for commerce while also evolving in ways that respect the past:

The focus of the occupation of the ‘Old New Market’ movement is to keep it as a market, in its traditional activities that existed here, or others that could have existed there, always in reference to the history of the place…[10] We need to believe that it is possible to combine a business opportunity with a healthy occupation space, which can amplify what is good about the Market, instead of transforming it into something it is not.[11]

Since 2018, the movement has revived nearly 400 vacant stores.[12] Beginning with the opening of restaurant and brewery, business in food beverages, arts, and other creative industries filled in the second and third floors.[13] But revitalising Mercado Novo was not just about business—it was about reconnecting visitors to its past.

Mercado Novo under construction, courtesy of Oficina Paraíso, *Papel, Pinga & Pólvora*.

Announcing the new city market Mercado Novo, courtesy of Velho Mercado Novo (@velhomercadonovo).

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Images left to right: 1) Cobogó bricks; 2) vintage matchboxes, 3 & 4) photographic display; 5) bottles; 6) Exhibition introduction; 7) signage; 8) one of the market’s many resturants; 9) Mercado Novo’s hallways are often busy with groups talking over food and drinks.

Papel, Pinga & Polvóra

To celebrate the markets 60th anniversary, Quick curated an exhibition called Papel, Pinga & Polvóra (Paper, Cachaça, and Gunpowder). [14] This places the early suppliers and artisans—those who have occupied the lower floors for decades, long before its recent transformation—at the centre of the market’s story.

Candle makers, printers, paper sellers, sheet metal workers, clothes and uniform repairers make up a proud, hardworking community in Mercado Novo. One of these artisans is Nilse Batella de Rezende, or Dona Nilse, who opened her religious candle-making factory in Mercado Novo in 1974.[15] She recalls working in the early days with her newborn son, “cleaning the hallways daily because it was very dirty”.[16] Her businesses flourished. By the 2000s, her sales dropped, but she adapted by producing decorative items. [17] She has maintained a tradition that everything is made by the family “with a lot of love”. [18]

Papel, Pinga & Polvóra demonstrates how artisans and suppliers like Dona Nilse have shaped the city of Belo Horizonte. The exhibition reflects the creativity of Mercado Novo’s artistic scene, integrating broomsticks, colourful rusted tins, and cachaça bottles—alongside traditional archives like photographs, maps, and newspaper clippings. Labels, packaging, and illustrations— pieces of popular culture- are included as reflections of collective imagination, showcasing values, humour, aesthetics, and memory.[19]

Reflections: Encountering History in our day-to-day

To the best of my knowledge, there is nothing quite like Papel, Pinga & Polvorá in Melbourne’s or Australia’s city markets. As such, it is a model for engaging communities with lost, recovered, or changing urban spaces. What this exhibition does best is allow people to stumble upon the past— for history to be part of everyday experiences like perusing a market. On top of this, Mercado Novo’s legacy— resistance and revival—remind us that markets are deeply cultural spaces.

Enjoy this glimpse into Mercado Novo’s creative, much-loved exhibition.

Written by Lauren Impey

References:

[1] Vouguinha, Marcela. ” Territorialidade E Ocupação No Contexto Organizacional: A (Re)Significação Do “Velho Mercado Novo” de Belo Horizonte (MG).” VII Bracorp Congress 1, no. 1 (2023): 3.

[2] Almeida, Rachel de Castro, Ághata Moura Marçal and Sávio Tadeu Guimarães. “Mercados Públicos Na Área Central De Belo Horizonte: Transformações, Resistências, Tensões.” Revista Brasileira De Gestão Urbana 14 (2022): 6.

[3] Vouguinha. ”Territorialidade E Ocupação.” 2-3.

[4] Oficina Paraíso. Papel, Pinga & Pólvora. Mercado Novo, Belo Horizonte. 2023-2024

[5] Vouguinha. “Territorialidade E Ocupação.” 6.

[6] Vouguinha. “Territorialidade E Ocupação.” 4.

[7] Oficina Paraíso. Papel, Pinga & Pólvora.

[8] Vouguinha. “Territorialidade E Ocupação.” 7.

[9] Oficina Paraíso. Papel, Pinga & Pólvora.

[10] Vouguinha. “Territorialidade E Ocupação.” 10.

[11] Vouguinha. “Territorialidade E Ocupação.” 9.

[12] Oficina Paraíso. Papel, Pinga & Pólvora.

[13] Vouguinha. “Territorialidade E Ocupação.” 8.

[14] Oficina Paraíso. Papel, Pinga & Pólvora.