-Caveat Lector- Expulsion of artists sparks revolution in Montmartre http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,11882,895920,00.html Itinerant painters launch action to reclaim streets which inspired Utrillo and Picasso
Jon Henley in Paris Saturday February 15, 2003 The Guardian Feelings up on the Butte de Montmartre are not running quite as high as in 1871 when the people of Paris's picturesque hilltop village rose up in rebellion, killed two army generals, and helped launch the Paris Commune. But it may not be long before they are. "It's scandalous, a blatant violation of our human rights and an unforgivable infringement of civil liberties," said Kemal from Turkey, waving his paintbrush in protest. "We have as much business here as anyone. If people come here, it's because of us. We're as important to this place as the view from the Sacr�- Coeur. And they're trying to drive us out. It'll end in violence." Since last month, when a new bylaw banned all but officially accredited artists from the Butte de Montmartre's best-known spots, Kemal and his colleagues - some 200 peripatetic portraitists, silhouette- snippers and caricaturists from half-a-dozen countries - have been exiled to a few sparsely populated backstreets. Plainclothes patrols "It's a catastrophe," said Marko, from former Yugoslavia. "My income has fallen by three-quarters. Nobody comes down this street. And as soon as I try to go anywhere else, I get harassed by the police. It's impossible." To enforce the new law, said Superintendent Alain Gibelin of the Paris police, a "Butte brigade" of eight plainclothes officers had been set up, reinforced by frequent uniformed patrols. Over the past six weeks, they have handed out more than 100 fines for offences ranging from "unlawfully accosting passers-by for commercial purposes" and "unauthorised exercise of a profession" to "insulting a police officer", "violation of residency laws", "obstruction of a public highway" and "unnecessary cries and vociferations". Tourists intimidated Mr Gibelin said no one had yet been hurt. "We are gradually recovering the terrain by peaceful means," he said. "But there's no question that some of these itinerant artists can be violent - a hard core routinely try to intimidate tourists, and silhouettists have been known to threaten people with their scissors." Just down the rue du Chevalier de la Barre, where Marko and Kemal were reduced yesterday to jogging on the spot to keep warm, lay their former stamping ground and the object of all their frustrations: the tackiest of Paris's tourist traps, the Place du Tertre. Once, this bucolic square inspired the likes of Toulouse Lautrec, Utrillo, Renoir and Picasso. Nowadays it is home to a large number of dubious oils and pastels, a clutch of accordion players, five highly authentic Parisian bistros and, last year, 6.5 million tourists. Needless to say, the officially accredited artists of Montmartre - whose association numbers 280 members, each with access, according to a carefully drawn-up rota, to a two-square-metre patch of the famous square - are delighted with the new law. "The itinerants were making things impossible," said Annie, who has worked on the Place du Tertre for 28 years. "They were aggressive, they put people off. They either undercut us drastically, or if they could, they overcharged." The going rate on the square was 50 to 60 euros (�33 to �40) for a portrait, Annie said. According to Michel Le Ray, a local Socialist councillor, fly-by- night itinerants charging anything from �5 to �150 "were making up to �1,500 [�1,000] a day last summer. It was getting insupportable". Andr� Roussard, the president of the Montmartre development office, agreed. "Most of them had never held a paint brush before they came up here," he said. "Sometimes they blocked whole streets to tout for trade." But the battle is not over. The peripatetic artists of Montmartre have formed an association, Addapt, and last month submitted a petition of 60 signatures to the French League of Human Rights, complaining of "intimidation, threats, xenophobic insults and physical violence". Last week they filed a formal legal challenge against the bylaw, saying it was illegal and discriminatory, and pointing out that only five or six Place du Tertre accreditations came up for grabs each year. "Tourists don't understand why we're stuck out on the backstreets like lepers," said Antonio, who has been scribbling caricatures on the Butte since 1974. "I pay my taxes, I have a perfect right to work here, and I'm treated like a prostitute. Don't they know Utrillo started out as a street artist?" Guardian Unlimited � Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003 Forwarded for your information. The text and intent of the article have to stand on their own merits. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many genera- tions. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of teachers, elders or wise men. Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all. Then accept it and live up to it." The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sut <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
