Sociologist and essayist Anne Guillou examines why the language of matriarchy has become a distinctive feature of discussion about Breton society. Drawing on her research into women, land, money and rural social relations, she asks when the idea emerged and who helped popularise it. The conference separates a powerful regional narrative from demonstrable historical structures, opening a careful debate about gender and authority in Brittany.
Tag: local-history
Jeanne Malivel Craft Conference
This conference places Jeanne Malivel at the centre of the Breton applied arts revival. Historian Olivier Levasseur examines her projects and the role of artisans and industrial partners, often from the Côtes-d’Armor, in renewing regional forms. Malivel’s work connects modern design and craft production with the search for a distinctly Breton visual language.
European Heritage Days at the Saline Royale
European Heritage Days at the Saline Royale follows the buildings where salt workers lived and worked, with guides introducing Claude-Nicolas Ledoux and his architecture. An archive-based photography retrospective traces changing views of the saltworks from Pointevin to Fessy. Family games and immersive projections extend the programme to other UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Wine Heritage Tour in Nuits-Saint-Georges
Véronique explores Nuits-Saint-Georges from the winegrower’s point of view on this Tourist Office guided visit. The route introduces the Climats de Bourgogne and the local appellation, linking the town’s history to its vineyards. Old winegrowers’ houses, traditional architecture and Burgundian follies show how that history appears in the streets.
Photography Exhibition in Romenay
Photographies : une histoire sensible de Romenay brings together work by the local photographers Alexandre, Bonnet and Meunier. Organised by the Friends of Vieux Romenay, the exhibition follows photographic practice from glass plates to film. The images connect family memory with a view of the surrounding region, presenting Romenay’s past through its photographers.
Blockhaus Visit in Le Pouldu: A WWII Insight
The Mémoire et Patrimoine de Clohars-Carnoët association features a semi-nocturnal visit to a bunker of the Atlantic Wall, perched above Grands Sables beach in Le Pouldu. This historic 775 m³ concrete structure has been meticulously restored, revealing remnants of a turbulent past. As you explore, you’ll see an artillery firing hall and auxiliary rooms like a troop shelter. Gain insights into the Breton Resistance and the fierce battles around the Lorient pocket and Laïta Front. The visit includes informative panels and artifacts, such as weapons and uniforms, that illustrate the site’s historical significance. Visitors can choose to tour independently or with a guide. A historical booklet detailing the Blockhaus is also available for purchase, allowing participants to take a piece of history home.
Maritime History in Concarneau: Jean-Paul Mathelier
Jean-Paul Mathelier recounts a photographic campaign aboard a Concarneau trawler within a lecture on the great fisheries. Images from voyages to southern Ireland and later work on a live-bait tuna boat record Breton sailors through labour, routine and quieter moments at sea. His testimony connects those photographs with routes reaching from northern waters to Mauritania and with the port memory preserved by the Musée de la Pêche.
Guided Tour of Saint-Malo: Corsair Legacy
The guided tour of Saint-Malo explores the Cité corsaire, its ramparts and the seafaring identity of the walled city. Privateers, major voyages and a long tradition of civic independence place the port at the centre of French and Breton maritime history. Conducted in French for a limited group, the visit explains why the phrase neither French nor Breton, but Malouin remains attached to the city.
Heritage Walk on Seaweed Industry in Plouguerneau: History &
ALGAE’s heritage walk follows the Penn Enez dune at Koréjou to read the traces of Brittany’s seaweed industry. Harvesting tools, stone ovens and goémonier boats explain how marine plants moved from the shore into agricultural and industrial use. The coastal route places working knowledge beside the landscape that produced it, with suitable footwear needed for the dune terrain.
Traditional Dance in Brittany: Cultural Evolution
La danse traditionnelle en Bretagne examines social dance as a record of a society in motion. Videos, photographs and explanatory texts trace ridées, pilé-menus and related forms from rural community practice through aristocratic and bourgeois influence. Material developed with the Groupement Culturel Breton des Pays de Vilaine shows how industrialisation and rural migration reshaped dance around the Pays de Redon.