Dance, music, singing, theater ... The Théâtre de Verre, a Parisian structure welcoming dozens of artists for a low price in a former high school in Belleville, is ordered by the Paris town hall to leave the premises within three months, without prospect of rehousing and in the midst of a health crisis.
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In the room overlooking the courtyard, about twenty young women rehearse a hip-hop choreography.
Next door, actors begin their dynamic warm-up.
At the end of a corridor, a group of musicians perform
Under the ocean
, the joyful hymn from the cartoon
The Little Mermaid
.
One floor above, we go from the cinema to the opera, with two lyrical singers who pierce the walls with their voices.
From the start, the association was fully aware that this situation would be temporary.
Carine Rolland, Culture Assistant at the Marie de Paris
"Our principle has been to welcome any artistic project, amateur or professional"
, explains to AFP the director of the structure Luis Pasina, figure of the Parisian counter-culture since the 1970s.
"It is the only place to Paris where there is never a selection, ”he
says.
But, soon to be sixty-nine, this artist of Uruguayan origin says he no longer sleeps since the Paris town hall, owner of the premises, told him at the end of January not to renew the temporary occupancy agreement that has been binding them since 2015.
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Coming from the squat movement, the Théâtre de Verre, founded in 1998 by the Co-Arter association, welcomes around five hundred artists and companies, mainly for rehearsal purposes, in a 1300 m2 building of a former high school located near the Place des Fêtes, in the north-east of Paris.
Its fourth site in twenty years, after having successively been housed in wasteland in the 12th, 10th and 18th arrondissements.
From the start, the association was fully aware that this situation would be temporary.
François Dagnaud, PS mayor of the 19th arrondissement
On May 4, the eight employees will have to leave the premises which are to be transformed into a media library and a refugee house.
This double project remains the
"priority"
assumed by the PS mayor of the 19th arrondissement, François Dagnaud, who no longer wants
"the slightest grain of sand" to
come and push back the work.
With the support of the City of Paris.
“From the start, the association was fully informed that this situation would be temporary, the work to be launched in 2020 at the latest, as is the case in all intercalary urban planning operations, which allow associations or collectives to benefit from temporarily unoccupied spaces to develop their activities ”
, explains to AFP the assistant PS for culture Carine Rolland, who underlines the
“ graceful ”nature
of the occupation.
Read also: Covid obliges, a troop of musicians performs in the courtyards of buildings
Artists "in poverty"
Luis Pasina mentions a rent of 10,000 euros per year, a very modest sum for Paris, like the contributions he asks artists: nine euros per hour for a rehearsal room, fifteen for the largest.
"What's great at the Théâtre de Verre is that if I don't have enough registrants for my workshops, I call a week before and I have nothing to pay"
, explains the clown Carlotina Dupompom, fifty-nine years old, came to demonstrate Wednesday March 10 in front of the Town Hall and who says to have tipped
"in misery"
with the health crisis.
She denounces a
"despicable"
decision
of the town hall.
Carine Rolland explains that
"several avenues were discussed with the association, which refused them"
, affirming that she
"did not participate in the city's calls for projects"
.
It underlines that the entry into force of the Sapin II law, which obliges to
“put in competition any provision of the public space when the use which is made of it is commercial”
, also complicates the situation.
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Less wasteland
Luis Pasina retorts that he was not informed and only received one unsuitable rehousing proposal in a former supermarket.
The place is
"indeed very damaged"
, admits François Dagnaud, who recognizes the
"moral and political responsibility"
of the city to
"find places so that this type of structures can continue to function"
.
But for the city councilor, the problem stems from the fact that
“the available intermediary places”
are becoming increasingly rare.
"It is still supposed to be socialists at the town hall,"
plague the Paris LFI advisor Danielle Simonnet, who asks the Paris executive to
"suspend the eviction"
while awaiting relocation. Also called upon by elected environmentalists, communists and right-wingers, Carine Rolland pledged to
"identify any relevant opportunity"
for relocation by May. But for Luis Pasina,
“The town hall of Paris no longer wants to support popular movements like ours. If they don't help us anymore, it's back to square one. ”
That is to say the squat without a legal framework.