With reference to Macunaíma, new operation unites bookstore and coffee shop in Cidade Baixa

Commanded by partners Pedro Nambuco and André Lisboa, the Macun Bookstore aims to be a place to promote culture in Porto Alegre. Located on Rua Octávio Corrêa, n⁰ 67, in Lower City, the operation will feature bookstore, café and libraryall this in a cozy environment, which should open its doors in the first half of October.

The idea for Macun came from the union of the couple’s pions. Pedro, born in Recife and living in Porto Alegre for 18 years, always dreamed of opening a bookstore. André, a civil servant and author, had a project in mind to open a café. Over time, one began to absorb the other’s idea and the new venture began to emerge.

“We want to be a meeting point for people who want to read a book, have a chat, have a coffee or a gl of wine. The idea is to integrate these pions: coffee, books and drinks. We think it’s a mixture that works and few people invest in it“, explains André.

The gastronomic part of the operation will feature a café, which will offer pies, cakes and savory snacks, but also options for dinner, such as blumenau sausage risotto and sautéed mushrooms. Initially, the entrepreneurs intend to offer a wine and draft beer list, but there is a plan to make drinks available to their customers in the future.

The main reference of the venture are the street bookstores in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, but despite this, the partners made a point of putting a very Brazilian face on the business. The environment is mainly inspired by the Brazilian modernist movement.

“Macun comes from Macunaíma. The idea is to drink from these people from the 1920s. We used the color red because of Pau-Brasil and there is a Pau-Brazil tree on the front. We want to work with our visitors on a new concept of globalized Macunaíma, which refers to a much more global Brazil than when people started writing there in the 1920s. If, at that time, we were in search of identity, today we see a Brazil much more established worldwide”, explains Pedro.

This concept of globalization is reflected in the books that will be offered at Macun. Pedro is a Geography professor and has always been very interested in the area of ​​cartography. Therefore, Macun’s goal is to make a mapping of world literaturemaking the arrangement of books defined by the nationality of the authors.

“If I want Nordic literature, it will be in that section. If I’m looking for a Cuban writer, there will be a Cuba section there. I think it’s a cool idea to get to know a little about that country through literature. We want to try to encourage people to consume literature from another way, that isn’t just a best-seller”, say the partners at Macun Livraria.

Furthermore, the bookstore intends to highlight literature from a territory, country, or region on a monthly basis. Entrepreneurs will call the initiative Cycles and they intend to feature lectures, cultural events and book curation to highlight the literature of the chosen country that month.

The project has a space in the back, where there will be a library designed for customers who are unable to purchasecan rent and return books free of charge.

Macun will also have a multipurpose room, which aims to host cultural events such as lectures, book launches and soirees.