Together with the solidarity restaurant Cassonade, Decoratelier—a workshop for set builders and artists—is temporarily housed in an abandoned factory in Molenbeek, on heavily polluted land. A layer of concrete prevents oil, chemicals, and heavy metals from infiltrating the daily lives of the local residents. The municipality of Molenbeek is planning to make a park there: everything that’s being built inside Decoratelier today will disappear under a thick layer of healthy soil. Are the history and invisible stories of this place also in danger of disappearing?

Together with the caretaker, Cassonade’s chefs, local residents and visitors, the builders at Decoratelier set about the work like true archaeologists. As “latecomers”, they’re constructing a space in which to reflect on historical pollution and collective responsibility. They are unravelling the past and speculating about future ecosystems, lifeforms, and ways of living. Through structures and stories, they seek a way to share their concerns and desires with future generations. Can a society be built on top of its own mistakes? The Latecomers is a site-specific performance in which a community searches for the meaning of a place, inviting the audience to explore this strange landscape of stories.