The cases of La Teatrería in Mexico City and DOC in Paris

I have decided to look at two places, La Teatrería in Mexico City - where I have interviewed Oscar C., the producer and artistic director - as well as DOC in Paris - where I have spoken to Maude, the director and performer responsible of DOC’s theatre. We complement these interviews with online information and data gathered in earlier research on alternative artistic scenes. 

 

 

I have chosen to have a look at Paris, a city where one can find empty buildings that can be occupied illegally for different reasons. Both the private and the public sector sometimes support these temporary occupations making them semi-legal. This allows artists to have a place to work and to present their outcomes within a place where creative dynamics are permanently present. 

 

Out of these illegal occupations DOC is a good example, run by artists and occupied since 2015. DOC is an artist collective who do not want to be seen as an anarchist squat. Therefore, they have carefully invested time and energy to become known as a multidisciplinary artistic workplace, offering cultural activities for free, such as cinema projections, theatre presentations, art exhibitions etc. Nowadays, they are recognized in the artistic world and have been supported by institutions as the Regional Fund for Contemporary Art (FRAC).

 

 

I also want to write about Mexico City, where there is a lack of regulations for independent places. "It was easier to open a strip club than a theatre” said Samuel, member of Colegio de Productores de Teatro. This year a new law regulating independent cultural places will finally be passed. 

 

Oscar, together with his husband, decided to take the risk of opening La Teatrería, a small independent theatre in 2015. Knowing that such a theatre is not financially sustainable, they also opened a restaurant and a bar associated to the theatre as a complementary revenue. Unfortunately, the restaurant did not bring in enough money and so the space is now being remodelled into a co-working area. La Teatrería hopes that this will bring a stable income that will allow an artistic freedom for the theatre.

 

 

La Teatrería, which is a business, has been closed for almost a year with no income from their activities, but continuing to pay rent, services and salaries. Although they have received a rescue package from the government they are suffering financially. The team, which has been the same since La Teatrería opened, has a strong personal relationship. "One of the things we miss the most is seeing each other every day,” Oscar shares. They have been having online meetings twice a week simply to catch up and be able to check in on everyone. La Teatrería has also had to close "aparador”, a small scene facing the street like a "window-shop” where shows are presented for free to those who pass by and decide to stop for a moment or enjoy the whole show, independent of socio-economic backgrounds.

 

DOC has been open although the place remained closed during the first lockdown in March 2020. "It was so long that at the end of it we allowed some members to live in their workshops, especially those in difficult situations, like living in ridiculously small apartments,” said Maude and added that during their stay the artists did some maintenance jobs in return, such as painting or fixing up certain areas.

 

Because DOC is mainly a workspace and not an event place they have been active since the 1st lockdown was over. However, internally ‘something’ changed: "This period had brought divisions amongst groups… positions are clearer and more transparent when we have meetings.” An example was a debate on whether or not they should host external activities. On one side there are squatters, arguing for keeping DOC as a squat, outside the law and therefore continuing hosting audiences; and on the other side artists, some of them from Écoles des beaux-arts - one of the most prestigious high level education institutions of fine arts in Paris - wanted to follow the governmental regulations. The final decision had to be as responsible and respectful as possible: "we care about what is going on, although we see incoherence in the decisions taken by the government: galleries, religious centers, supermarkets and stores in general are open, one can travel hours by train but cannot sit down in a cinema,” explains Maude.

 

 

Since La Teatrería has installed a very strong internet connection for the coworking space, they have rented the space for theatre companies to broadcast live performances. These revenues are quite small, but with 300,000 Pesos (about 12,000 Euros) as a financial cushion from the Mexican governmental program called "Reactivación de espacios”, intended to support cultural spaces in the face of the pandemic, La Teatrería has mainly financed itself. A strong strategy to face the COVID19 work conditions has been bringing the Argentinian project Teatrix to Mexico, a digital platform where theatre is filmed in HD and can be watched by paying a monthly fee. 

 

The DOC also asked for governmental finance support, but the petition was rejected. Inside DOC the theatre space is still for rent for external companies who want to rehearse and work, but due to the low rents this does not bring a significant income. In terms of activities and audiences, the theatre department usually organises a festival. This year instead, they created Radio Galosh a radiophonic show with live performances for three days. Because of its success the project has continued broadcasting every week, allowing the theatre group to stay active. 

 

Contemporary artists have not received help as performing artists have, which is why DOC has organized an online market where they could sell their work. This is the first time DOC played a production role in which sales were being pushed. "We have never wanted to be a commercial place,” says Maude, but for contemporary artists is a way to soften financial problems. 

 

Even though their events had a pay-what-you-like policy to keep them accessible for everyone, to end external activities meant relinquishing an important source of income. Until now, the only income is the monthly rents for the workspaces paid by the artists, but that barely covers the salary of the two employees. The rest of the staff are DOC’s artists who volunteered in different tasks. Today there are many artists who share workspaces since they can no longer afford to pay the full rent. 

 

 

Nowadays independent artistic places are heteronomous, each place organizes itself. Financially, the two presented places suffer of a lack of artistic activities where they can meet an audience, which has stopped the cash flow that they had before the pandemic. La Teatrería and other artistic places in Mexico are beginning to open. Concerning DOC there is no clear perspective of when they will be able to open. Although they find themselves in the most difficult moment of their history, they have no option but to wait.

 

Those artists who were constantly active at DOC have begun to feel an anxiety from not having enough things to do. Some are considering changing their profession. 

 

I am worried about the future of independent places since we have been witnessing how unsteady and fragile their situations are. Their very essence and reason for existing is being questioned by artists who a year ago thought ‘it will be fine’ and now find themselves in a more precarious situation. They are confronted with a blurry future and broken links, no more face to face meetings between artists, art and audiences. Artists and places are in surviving mode, very little or no service to the communities may be offered, for now they need to hang on and let the storm pass.