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Writer's pictureArtur Monteiro

Makaxera and its route



Life is a great road on which we are the travellers, regardless of the destination and origin, the most important moment is and always will be the present one. That eternal now from which we can analyse the next step. We are constantly given the opportunity to evaluate the route taken so far, to learn from any past mishaps and to move on. The choice to evaluate the past is always optional, however we always carry marks, conscious or not, of breakdowns along the way.


Sometimes in a crash, the handlebars of the bike have broken down and pull a little to the left. The brake feels a little weird and the chain needs oil. Often we don't notice this and just carry on. We can go on with the bicycle like this without listening to the signs of discomfort, or stop and understand that there is something wrong, analyse it, find some way to improve the ride and carry on. Forgiving the past is a choice to let oneself go forward. Sometimes we don't have the tools or the noise is too low to notice, but that is the only way to reinvent yourself. Of following. Of being.


On the other hand the horizon is so far away that we cannot always be bound to arrive. For as everything is relative, there will also be an intermediate point between moments. From there one can also analyse new horizons and that is the magic of life. As all places are centres of themselves we are an infinity of sunsets.


Life is too short not to be responsible for our own conduct. For many years of my life, if not all of it, I sought answers to inner emptiness, unknown traumas in occasions, jobs and relationships that would fill me up. I found myself attaching my bicycle to others that were also broken, not to go along... but to be towed from my condition. Slowing them down and not repairing mine.Life is short to concede the meaning of our choices to others. To search for the gold at the end of the rainbow.


I was once told that if we do not actively seek our dreams, we will surely be living someone else's dream. I decided to say enough is enough to the future predetermined strongly in my fears of the past, the fears of projections that dominated me decades back and forth. I feel like I was living trapped in a time lapse bigger than myself, while in truth it was all just fear. I recognise it still and me, but it's left for me to face it and try what makes me whole.



Makaxera has two meanings that align with my feelings about the reality to follow. On the one hand the root that has cultural and nutritional importance for Brazil and many other countries in the Americas, Asia and Africa and is also a symbol of a strong connection with the earth, with ancestry. The recognition of origins. On the other hand, Makaxera in Tupi-guaraní also refers to a mythical being: a spirit, the "genius of the paths", "the one who takes care of the travellers", the processes, the following. The devotion to the now, to the encounter.


In this sense Makaxera is born, an initiative and work to tell stories of places, people and territories. A portal out of myself with which I invite everyone to come together and share a little of this rooted today that I try to practice through my art and will to follow.


It is very good to count on you. Thank you!



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