PARIS - Illegal squats in Paris usually have a short life. After one year, perhaps two, they are either shut down or transformed into legal art centers with the support of the city's Socialist government. But not La Miroiterie, which has been a renowned artists' settlement for the past 14 years.

Its days appear to be numbered, however, as a development company is planning to close it down. Its residents say that the one thing that could have saved it - having it be taken over by the city, like the other squats - would have killed it anyway.

In 1999, an artist who signs his work Michel Ktu was among the first to set up a studio at La Miroiterie, an abandoned mirror factory up the hill of Menilmontant, a slowly gentrifying immigrant neighborhood in northeastern Paris.

"I was in vital need of a space to work," said Mr. Ktu, who is now 46 and a set painter for the theater.

The real estate company SARL Thorel spent four years buying up the various parts of the complex from numerous owners and is now suing to take control of the building.

Over the years, many artists lived and worked at La Miroiterie, and contributed to creating its identity. La Miroiterie provided free services to the neighborhood: a free clothing store was opened, classes were given to children in capoeira (a Brazilian discipline combining martial arts and dance), free meals were distributed, exhibitions were regularly organized and the gate of the dilapidated complex was always open.

Over time, residents organized concerts and started to attract a different audience: Parisians looking for an underground scene. La Miroiterie is now well known for its entertainment - jazz, punk and rap shows, which are scheduled several days a week, for no more than 10 euros, about $13, or sometimes free.

"There is no other venue like this in Paris, for this kind of music," said Mr. Ktu.

When they discovered in 2009 that Thorel was planning to evict them, the Miroitiers, as they call themselves, filed suit. But after four years and many court hearings, it looks as if the fate of La Miroiterie is sealed. The whole complex seems likely to be emptied of its last residents by the end of March.

Parisians tried to support the Miroitiers: online petitions were issued and demonstrations were held in front of City Hall.

The City of Paris and the Miroitiers did discuss ways to preserve La Miroiterie, but nothing came of it. Since the city does not own the building, it cannot prevent the eviction of the artists. But officials offered to relocate them to several different spaces owned by the city. The effort failed partly because the Miroitiers were poorly organized, but also because they refused to compromise.

Anne-Sophie Devos, 37, who has been squatting at La Miroiterie for five years, said, "We'd rather be wild, hands free."

Mr. Ktu, who also opposes the city's involvement, said, "They are willing to help us, but they want to have a hold on us."

The two of them are considering opening "La Miroiterie No. 2" and already have a vacant building in mind.

Mr. Ktu is convinced that the City Council, despite itself, is promoting a certain kind of official culture.

"They destroy everything, these fools," he said. "They just don't get it."

Swan Moteurs, a Miroitier who organized the rap concerts, agrees that official involvement would have killed La Miroiterie. "If you plant a seed in it, it's no longer an ecosystem," he said.

For others, it is entirely appropriate that an artistic ecosystem be ephemeral. Benjamin Sanz, who organized jazz jam sessions at La Miroiterie, said he was neither sad nor nostalgic about La Miroiterie shutting down. "It's the law of the squatter," he said.

The New York Times

(China Daily 03/24/2013 page10)