Lévénès de Cléden-Poher hangs his photographic portraits in the town hall at Cléguérec. Men and women of the different pays bretons sit for the camera in traditional costume rebuilt faithfully. Interactive labels carry a QR code opening a sound capsule and a biography. The Breton costume works here as a visual identity card, declaring its wearer’s territory, period and social standing. The photographer leads a guided visit of his own hanging.
Tag: traditional-crafts
Visite de l’Atelier de la Nacre, à Audierne
The Atelier de la Nacre opens its bench in Audierne for a behind-the-scenes tour, and visitors work the material themselves. Jocelyne has been a nacrière for more than twenty years, in one of the rares nacrières de France. She collects ormeaux, huîtres perlières and burgos from fishermen and shellfish farmers, and turns them into boucles d’oreille, bagues and pendentifs. It belongs to the savoir-faire weeks of the Brittany Tourist Offices.
Arc-en-Ciel Imprimeurs, a print works at Lécousse
Arc-en-Ciel Imprimeurs has printed from Lécousse for more than 50 years, and its 12 salaried staff keep the offset and digital presses running for local firms, authorities and associations. The guided tour crosses the workshops step by step, following production from books to advertising panels. The trade on show is at once traditional, technical and constantly evolving. Photography is prohibited inside, so nothing leaves on a phone.
Opozit, steel frame-building at Pommeret
Opozit builds custom steel bicycles inside Atelier OPN, a former farmstead in the Breton country, and opens its workshop for the Semaines du Tourisme Economique et des Savoir-Faire. Pierre, once a research engineer, chose the workbench over the design office. A frame is followed from the first digital sketch to the final weld, through bending, cutting and brazing. Computer-aided design sets its geometry to the millimetre for one rider’s build.
Le Brut de l’Avette reed workshop, Québriac
Nolwenn Zaour and Simon Froger make anches at Le Brut de l’Avette, the cane reeds that give the bombarde and the veuze their voice. The visit follows one through every stage, from choosing the cane to the adjustments that settle its sound. Wind instruments also come here for repair, so a bench is usually in mid-job. The atelier opens inside the Semaines du Tourisme Économique et des Savoir-Faire, the Breton fortnight of company visits.
Maillard & Maillard, marble and stone at Mesnil-Roc’h
Maillard & Maillard is a family marble works at the Lieu-dit La Métairie du Rouvre, co-managed by Eric and Loic Maillard. Visiting hours are set while the production site runs, so the stone can be followed as it becomes material for interior fitting-out. A second trade sits beside it: taille de pierre for restoring old buildings and the region’s heritage. The third is the stone carver, who answers private and public commissions.
Armorique Vitrail, stained glass at Ploubezre
Armorique Vitrail stands opposite the church of Ploubezre, near Lannion, and normally opens only by appointment. For these two periods the glass artisan Pauline Le Goïc opens the atelier and the showroom together. Visitors watch her at the bench, hear what the craft asks of her, and see pieces that rarely leave museums, galleries or the salons dédiés aux métiers d’art. Her trade serves new commissions and the restoration du patrimoine alike.
Embroidery at the Atelier du 5, Audierne
The Atelier du 5 opens its workroom at Audierne for an embroidery initiation inside the Economic Tourism and Local Crafts Weeks. Each sitting takes three people at most, so the work happens at the frame beside the embroiderer. What is taught is embroidery as a traditional Breton craft, with a needle in the hand of each participant. The fortnight is run by the Federation of Brittany Tourist Offices, and twelve is the youngest age admitted.
Atelier 33: lapidary and glass crafts, Landerneau
Atelier 33 opens its benches in Landerneau, where glass blowing and glass spinning, micro-soldering, laser engraving and lapidary work are practised. The session then turns practical with an initiation to the lapidary craft: each person learns how a rough stone is polished, works at it, and keeps the stone. Steven guides every step. The group is held to four people, and the bench is open from eighteen years up.
Cépi Ébénisterie: Straw Marquetry in Moncontour
Cépi Ébénisterie opens its workshop on Rue Charbonnerie at Moncontour, one of 27 taking part across Lamballe Terre et Mer. The cabinetmaker works in two registers: furniture and objects made to measure, and the restoration of older pieces. The rarer trade shown is marqueterie de paille, straw marquetry, which the workshop also teaches as an initiation. Each opening is a short presentation of the craft with a demonstration, six people at a time.