LABOUR/CULTURE-ARGENTINA: Factory by Day, Artspace by Night

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Mar 4 2001 (IPS) - The need to preserve sources of work has led a co-operative in the Argentine capital to open its doors, expanding beyond metal-working endeavours to fuel the development of a wide range of artistic expression.

Unlike what has occurred in other capitals around the world, where stages or galleries are set up in abandoned factories, here, since 1999, machine workers coexist in the same space with actors, musicians, painters and other artists as they prepare their presentations.

The project known as “La Fábrica” (The Factory), brainstormed by the Argentine Metallurgic and Plastics Industry (IMPA) co-operative of workers in order to prevent the company from closing, has so far organised 22 workshops in various disciplines and more than 70 stage shows.

At the factory, from 6:00 in the morning until 3:00 in the afternoon, machine operators produce items made of aluminium, such as candy wrappers, aerosol cans, toothpaste tubes, or disposable trays, earning a monthly salary of 500 dollars, the same as their managers.

The company now operates efficiently, has established its market and its output can compete fairly well with imports, Guillermo Robledo, the general manager, told IPS.

But the workers’ co-operative is weighed down by a million-dollar debt that prevents it from obtaining credit in order to negotiate payment plans with major clients, he explained.

The idea to provide a space for artistic activities arose from the thought that “these large, well-lit warehouses we have could be an ideal place for it, and on top of that, we wouldn’t be so alone,” recounted Robledo.

“We have a building of 23,000 square metres and we only utilise 8,000 to manufacture our products,” he said.

German entrepreneurs founded IMPA in the early twentieth century, but the business had its ups and downs, and was even a State-run firm for a time, until the 1960s when it became a co-operative with as many as 700 member-employees.

Fifteen years ago, mismanagement put the co-operative through its worst crisis, building up a debt of two million dollars with the government-run Banco Nación. The number of workers plummeted to 220.

The persistence of hard times led managers to threaten to close the factory’s doors. But after six months of inactivity, some 150 workers who refused to be left without jobs agreed in 1999 to pursue this original approach to saving their livelihoods.

The proposal was to take on an activity that was, to a great extent, the complete opposite of assembly-line production, but one that would attract a public that was unrelated to factory life.

“For us it is like having an umbrella that protects us, given that artistic activity has its own dynamic – and within a short time we had become quite well known,” Robledo acknowledged.

The artists, who offer workshops in theatre, drawing, puppetry, gold- or silver-smithing, voice, and dance, among other disciplines, or those who organise some sort of stage show, do not have to pay to use the factory space.

“Nor are they our partners, but rather we simply give them a place – free of charge – to accompany us,” explained the general manager, who pointed out that last year several theatre productions took place here, one of which drew more than 3,000 spectators.

The critics considered that show, titled “3EX,” the most interesting of the Buenos Aires 2000 theatre season, bringing public attention to the site chosen for the production.

“We don’t interfere in the selection of the works and we only ask that they respect the spirit of the factory, in other words, that the people seat themselves on steps or on drums, that there are no rugs or curtains, just this wide-open space and, eventually, the sound in the background of the machinery,” Robledo said.

The popularity “3EX” achieved for the site led the workers to publish a monthly magazine in order to get word out about the events at the factory, called ‘IMPActo,’ and to open a mini-cinema, which “for now is just a big television,” Robledo clarified.

For his part, the playwright and theatre director Diego Starosta emphasised that in “La Fábrica there is a great deal of respect for others.”

Starosta, who is currently directing a work here on Friday nights, added that this “respect is not common in the official theatres, nor in private playhouses.”

Tango groups have also found in the large rooms of “La Fábrica” an ideal space for their classes and shows, as evidenced by the frequent concerts and theatre works in which this music plays an essential part.

Nevertheless, while the shows go on, the workers continue facing the challenge of keeping the factory running.

“The company is under notice and is paying off the creditors little by little, but we owe the bank two million dollars,” Robledo said, “we are in no condition to get access to loans.”

The building, which transnational firms fought over in 1999 thinking they would build a shopping centre or a supermarket, is valued at seven million dollars, while the mortgage is assessed at just one million.

But the laws in effect under the Argentine finance system prevent the co-operative from mortgaging it for more than that sum.

The impossibility of obtaining access to credits obstructs plans to expand the co-operative, which could take on another 50 employees and boost its sales with payment plans beyond 90 days, stressed Robledo.

“We have the best machinery and our established capacity is twice what we are currently producing. We are competitive and we have good prices, in part because our management structure is much less costly than it is for other companies,” said the general manager who receives the same wages as an IMPA machine operator.

But the government decree to cancel the company’s debt has yet to arrive and the loans continue to be postponed – which is why IMPA, before ending up like hundreds of other small and medium-sized firms, decided to look for an alternative way out.

Instead of waiting for the factory to turn into another abandoned warehouse, ready to be taken over for other ends, the workers themselves invited artists to be part of the efforts to save it, which so far seems to have satisfied both sides, and then some.