La Balsamine is more than a theatre, it’s a garden – a place where artists, audiences, neighbours (and even houseplants) grow together. Once a squat, later shaped by its founding artist Martine Wijckaert, the building maintains signs of its historic past while keeping archives of its visitors and residents as they come and go. La Balsamine is a breathing creative lab that focuses on long-term processes for art. Christine Paquet and Luz de Amor tell us the story of La Balsamine and all about making resources and creativity accessible to all ages and backgrounds.
Can you introduce La Balsamine and its drive to our readers?
Christine: We are a small team of nine people, ten by next season. Our programmes change every season, but they always include different topics, forms of shows and ideas that we want to share with the audience.
Luz: La Balsamine used to be a squat, and then it was taken over by Martine Wijckaert, who is the founder and who still lives, works, and breathes here. She is currently a partner artist. Three years ago, Mathias Varenne and Isabelle Bats took over the direction of the project. Their approach stands out in how they view La Balsamine as a garden, and everyone and everything grow slowly, organically, over time.
Christine: It’s a space for growth – both for people and plants. We have a project called Jardinières* that happens three times every season. It includes a one-hour performance, and just before it, there is an interview on different topics. People can join early, eat together, our in-house cook makes delicious food, and just enjoy the great energy.
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Luz: Every artist who joins La Balsamine has to bring a plant. It’s an archive for us through nature. After the artists leave, we continue to take care of the plants, they become part of the space and take care of us too. We also like to bring different audiences together. We have a kids’ programme, called Balsatoiles, that shows animated movies in the afternoon. Starting next year, we will do Balsanight, which involves evening movie screenings that are more oriented toward our Schaerbeek neighbourhood, but it’s open for everyone to join.
Christine: The artists that we host are not just from theatre school; they come from all kinds of backgrounds. We like to offer them a space to explore forms, try different ideas and grow in unexpected ways.
How do you maintain the identity of La Balsamine while welcoming such a broad audience?
Luz: It depends on the project. One of the core values of La Balsamine is that the projects are long-term, not reactive. We work in process, care and collaboration rather than competition. For me, each project asks for different angles to work on. We have Rémi Faure El-Bekkari’s piece, ‘Si tu continues comme ça…’, which is small but has a broader reach because of the complex relevance it carries.
Christine: It also depends on the events during the season. On the 27th of September, we have an opening party where we open the doors to our park. On one side is the green space, and on the other is the theatre. So we also try to keep a diverse range of activities to offer.
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What are you excited about this upcoming season?
Luz: Speaking of reaching a wider audience, I am working on ideas to reach younger generations. We have a brocante on 21.09.2025 where people can set up second-hand stands. On 27.09.2025, we will have a party for the premiere of Hardcore, by Alban Ovanessian, which will be on the Different Class agenda. I am personally excited about next year’s Matteo Sedda’s Fuck Me Blind and Areti Chourdaki’s Le chemin se fait en marchants. It’s a night composed of two dance shows. One is about repetition and has a hypnotic rhythm, and the other is about a compulsive form of craftsmanship. I think that’s going to be really nice!
Everybody can do theatre, not just those who studied it formally
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Christine: I am looking forward to Boutoures, which will be at the end of this season. Next year, we are partnering with B.R.A.V.E., an organisation that fights racism and homophobia in Schaerbeek. Together, we are building a two to three-day festival under their artistic direction. The project aims to encourage collaboration between the artists in the programme and the Balsamine team for a joint project.
Do you encourage artists to use this space for experimentation?
Luz: Mathias, our artistic director, believes that everybody can do theatre, not just those who studied it formally. He actively looks for artists and profiles of people who want to be part of what is like a ‘life’ process. One part of the project is to deconstruct the theatre and create a laboratory for experimentation. We have dance, poetry, even culinary performances and anything that pushes boundaries.
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if you want to do something, do it – and we’ll help you make it happen
Christine: The idea is that if you want to do something, do it – and we’ll help you make it happen. Now we’re part of a residency network called R.O.M. (Residencies On the Move), in which artists rotate between cities in six different countries. It’s a path for international cooperation and different opportunities for experimentation.
What do you want the audience to feel when they visit La Balsamine?
Luz: I recently changed my email signature and added ‘come for the show, stay for the rest’ – it sums up the ambience we want people to have. We want the trip here to be worth it. They arrive for the performance but stick around longer for the good energy, people, food, good music, books and the very cheap bar. La Balsamine might feel a bit punk because it started as a squat, people might think that we are trying to go outside the norm, but we are trying to normalise collaborations with care, shared knowledge, finances, and production – this should be the ‘norm’. Culture shouldn’t be a competition.
People might think that we are trying to go outside the norm, but we are trying to normalise collaborations with care, shared knowledge, finances, and production
Christine: That’s why we try to connect with other theatres in Schaerbeek. Our colleague Mathilde works in mediation and collaborations with places like Les Halles de Schaerbeek, Théâtre Océan Nord, Théâtre de la Vie and Le 140. We work together to build the Pass 1030 for associations of Schaerbeek.
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<div class="editorial-banner"> <div class=“editorial-credits”> @balsamine1030<br/></div>
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