Mercado Libre Promotes Afro-Entrepreneurship at Feira Preta

Now in its 22nd year, the 2024 Feira Preta Festival once again celebrated Black culture, the creative economy, and Afro-entrepreneurship. Mercado Pago, Mercado Libre’s digital bank, joined as the official sponsor and the event’s official payment platform.

Over three days, the festival welcomed more than 60,000 attendees, marking it the highest turnout to date. The event featured 160 activities, around 300 artists and speakers, and over 150 Black entrepreneurs who showcased their products and services. The festival generated over R$7.7 million, with R$1.4 million in sales by participating vendors.

A Techno-Documentary Installation in the Meli Pavilion Laura Motta stands in front of the Meli pavilion.

One of the festival’s highlights was the activation "Moda Preta: quem chegou fazendo história" (“Black Fashion: Those Who Came Making History”), an immersive exhibition in which visitors walked through a time tunnel exploring the history of Brazilian fashion and its connections to Black and Indigenous communities. The installation featured photographs, text, fashion items, and projections that covered the walls and floors of a space designed to resemble a Mercado Libre delivery box. The experience was created in collaboration with researcher Hanayrá Negreiros, who curated the content, and artists from Coletivo Coletores, Toni Baptiste and Flávio Camargo, who designed and built the exhibit.

According to Toni, the history of successful collaborations and shared values between Coletivo Coletores and Mercado Libre were key factors. “The concept was crafted as an opportunity to merge technological expertise and artistic vision. The connection between our research and the history of Afro-Brazilian fashion, represented by the curator, strengthened this partnership,” explained the artist. In a press interview, curator Hanayrá Negreiros added, “The range of reactions, from tears to smiles, showed how the content sparked personal memories and underscored the importance of highlighting these diverse cultural narratives.”

Laura Motta, Senior Sustainability Manager at Mercado Libre Brazil, noted that this historical and cultural backdrop also guided the preparation with Afro-entrepreneurs before the event. Selected participants received training and seed capital to develop fashion collections that were showcased in runway shows during the festival, and sold both at the event’s market and through Feira Preta’s online store on Mercado Libre.

Since 2018, Mercado Libre has partnered with Preta Hub to strengthen Black-led businesses in Brazil. This support includes providing tools and expertise in online sales strategies to the entrepreneurs participating in Afrolab, an initiative by Preta Hub to support, promote, and boost Afro-entrepreneurship. Learn more.