PARIS, May 10 (Reuters) - Artists at one of the most-visited hubs of contemporary art in Paris are in a battle with city hall to preserve the status quo at their “aftersquat”, where visitors can freely view 30 painters and sculptors in the throes of the creative process.
The artists, who have travelled from as far away as Japan and the United States to set up in the former illegal squat, say a plan to reduce the number of permanent workshops in order to have more artists move through will kill the family spirit of the site, now leased and legal for several years.
Six floors of rooms showcasing the eclectic creators and their work are accessible from a spiral central staircase, spattered with paint in psychedelic colours that stands out from the building’s nondescript Haussmanian exterior.