How politicians killed Paris’s art-squat movement

‘Punir les pauvres’ — Over the past few years, Paris City Council has legalised several legendary artists’ squats to capitalise on their ‘cool’ factor. But as writer Eloïse Stark discovered, the move has effectively destroyed the founding principles of this underground scene.

Artist Francesco uses his studio floor as a paint palette, and calls his ceiling the “Sistine Chapel.” While it may not be covered in religious frescos, it is packed with colourful, painted faces which stare down at you from every angle.

Francesco is one of 30 artists occupying number 59, Rue de Rivoli – a huge Hausmannian building in the very heart of Paris, on one of the city’s most upmarket shopping avenues. With paintings and sculptures dangling off its facade, the busy gallery stands out next to its neighbouring Swarovski, Mango and Gucci. It’s strange to think that the space – which now attracts 70,000 visitors every year – started as an illegal artists’ squat.

“When we first arrived, the house was filled with dead pigeons, it took us a month to clean up,” remembers Gaspard Delanoë, who founded the squat with two friends back in 1999. He’s sitting in his workspace-cum-gallery, which he baptised the “Igor Balut Museum” after the name of a stranger found at random in a telephone directory.

The gallery is really a collaborative work of art, where Gaspard’s own creations – oil paintings covered with brightly printed, provocative slogans – are mixed with metro tickets, dolls and random bric-a-brac.

“This place has the Guinness World Record for the Museum that has moved around the most,” Gaspard says. He set it up in every squat he ever lived in – eight in total. “I started squatting in 1994, and we got evicted every six months.” Each time, his artwork was destroyed, and he ended up on the street. “Getting evicted does get really tiring,” he admits. “Especially when you’re making love to your girlfriend and the riot police breaks down your door. It puts a bit of a downer on things.”

Luckily for Gaspard’s love life, things have settled down for him since the City Council legalised the squat in 2004. It’s a move that has become increasingly common in recent years: Paris now has over a dozen former squats which have been turned into legitimate cultural centres. The city realised it could capitalise on the cool factor provided by this counter-culture to help it compete with other European capitals – and attract educated young people to drive the creative economy, and accelerate gentrification.

For the squatters, however, being legal comes at a cost. “When they legalised us, they banned us from living here, it became just a workspace, Gaspard says. “We used to mix art and life. We didn’t want to separate them, because in today’s world everything is compartmentalised. Back then, we’d have orgies every week: we created together, we slept together. All that has disappeared.”

59 Rivoli is still home to beautiful, imaginative work, but it’s no longer a space for inventing new ways of living and loving. Nor is it the refuge for broke artists that it once was: the application process is competitive and takes several months, and residents have to pay – even if it is only 150 euros a month.

Going above board was a hard choice for the squatters, and some of them left in protest. They argued that signing a contract with the City Council went against the squats’ values of questioning property rights and reinventing community living. They say that this is exactly why Paris wants to legalise these spaces: to gain control over a space of dissidence.

“Over the past few years, we’ve seen a pattern,” says Emmanuel Ferrand, booker at La Générale, another now-legal squat which hosts musicians and artists in the 11th district of Paris. “The government has found a way to control these spaces, suffocating them not by direct repression but by reappropriating their codes. Legalising artists’ squats is like using them as a vaccine. It makes them harmless.”

It’s also a way of picking and choosing your squatters. “There are spaces which the town hall rents to artists because they don’t want them to be squatted by Roma people or undocumented immigrants,” Emmanuel explains. He says that Paris has effectively driven a wedge between “good squatters” (artists and creatives), and “bad squatters” (refugees and the homeless). While a few squats have been legalised, Macron’s government has increased pressure on the others. The “Elan Law”, enacted in November, makes evicting squatters easier than ever before.

Meanwhile, the squat ‘aesthetic’ is being milked for all it’s worth – not just by city hall, but also by private investors. To increase the value of an unoccupied property, the city council rents out bits of land awaiting construction work to events companies who create “ephemeral spaces.” Often, these become beer gardens which all follow the same recipe: furniture made of pallets, graffiti, exposed pipework and wiring… and an expensive bar.

The reappropriation of squat culture by companies sometimes goes even further. La Miroiterie was once a legendary musical squat in the working class Belleville area. They had raves and parties and a world-renowned program of upcoming punk rock artists. In 2014, they were forced to leave, and the site was sold to property developers. Construction work will soon start, and the squat will be turned into shops, an expensive spa, and a concert hall – but will still be called “La Miroiterie.”

Having both their place and their name taken was too much for the former booker Michel Ktu, who wrote an angry op-ed on the website StreetPress. “Taking our name like that is tomb raiding,” he wrote, bitterly. “The vultures are stealing everything we spent 15 years making.”

Yet, against all odds, new squats continue to be born. Gerard says he is part of a “network of staunch squatters,” and currently lives in a dilapidated building near Gare du Nord. It used to be the head office of a chain of jewellers, and there’s still a walk-in safe in the living room, amongst the sculptures, murals and mismatched furniture.

For years, the place has been home to up to 70 people at a time, attracting artists, musicians and actors. “In a squat, you have opportunities that you don’t have in a house to develop your creativity,” Gerard says, gesturing towards a huge paper-mâché wolf’s head hanging over the room.

A few months ago, he and his fellow squatters received an eviction notice, and soon they will be forced to move out. But for Gerard, the adventure isn’t over. The other day, he tells me, he spoke on the phone to the bailiff, who was organising for his housemates to be rehoused. The bailiff then asked if Gerard himself needed somewhere new to live.

“No, thanks,” Gerard replied, cheekily. “But we might meet again in my next squat.” He has already found the perfect abandoned building to occupy.

Follow Eloïse Stark on Twitter.

Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. 


Ad

Latest on Huck

Red shop frontage with "Open Out" branding and appointment-only signage.
Activism

Meet the trans-led hairdressers providing London with gender-affirming trims

Open Out — Since being founded in 2011, the Hoxton salon has become a crucial space the city’s LGBTQ+ community. Hannah Bentley caught up with co-founder Greygory Vass to hear about its growth, breaking down barbering binaries, and the recent Supreme Court ruling.

Written by: Hannah Bentley

Cyclists racing past Palestinian flag, yellow barriers, and spectators.
Sport

Gazan amputees secure Para-Cycling World Championships qualification

Gaza Sunbirds — Alaa al-Dali and Mohamed Asfour earned Palestine’s first-ever top-20 finish at the Para-Cycling World Cup in Belgium over the weekend.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Crowded festival site with tents, stalls and an illuminated red double-decker bus. Groups of people, including children, milling about on the muddy ground.
© Alan Tash Lodge
Music

New documentary revisits the radical history of UK free rave culture

Free Party: A Folk History — Directed by Aaron Trinder, it features first-hand stories from key crews including DiY, Spiral Tribe, Bedlam and Circus Warp, with public streaming available from May 30.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Weathered wooden building with a tall spire, person on horseback in foreground.
Culture

Rahim Fortune’s dreamlike vision of the Black American South

Reflections — In the Texas native’s debut solo show, he weaves familial history and documentary photography to challenge the region’s visual tropes.

Written by: Miss Rosen

A collage depicting a giant flup for mankind, with an image of the Earth surrounded by planets and people in sci-fi costumes.
Culture

Why Katy Perry’s space flight was one giant flop for mankind

Galactic girlbossing — In a widely-panned, 11-minute trip to the edge of the earth’s atmosphere, the ‘Women’s World’ singer joined an all-female space crew in an expensive vanity advert for Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. Newsletter columnist Emma Garland explains its apocalypse indicating signs.

Written by: Emma Garland

Three orange book covers with the title "Foreign Fruit" against a dark background.
Culture

Katie Goh: “I want people to engage with the politics of oranges”

Foreign Fruit — In her new book, the Edinburgh-based writer traces her personal history through the citrus fruit’s global spread, from a village in China to Californian groves. Angela Hui caught up with her to find out more.

Written by: Katie Goh

Huck is supported by our readers, subscribers and Club Huck members. It is also made possible by sponsorship from:

Signup to our newsletter

Sign up to our newsletter to informed with the cutting edge of sport, music and counterculture, featuring personal takes on the state of media and pop culture from Emma Garland, former Digital Editor of Huck, exclusive interviews, recommendations and more.

Please wait...

Accessibility Settings

Text

Applies the Open Dyslexic font, designed to improve readability for individuals with dyslexia.

Applies a more readable font throughout the website, improving readability.

Underlines links throughout the website, making them easier to distinguish.

Adjusts the font size for improved readability.

Visuals

Reduces animations and disables autoplaying videos across the website, reducing distractions and improving focus.

Reduces the colour saturation throughout the website to create a more soothing visual experience.

Increases the contrast of elements on the website, making text and interface elements easier to distinguish.