Street Art in Brittany | Brittany tourism

Festivals, museums, guided tours: urban art is gaining ground in Brittany! War!, Heol, Zag&Sia and Wen2 are some of the regional artists to follow. Little tour of street art in the towns of Brittany

In the blink of an eye

1. The capital of Breton street art

Rennes

Street art is everywhere in Rennes, in the form of graffiti, collages, stencils, stickers, on walls and on building site fences. With poppies, dragonflies and giant meerkats, WAR! (Fr) grabs the headlines. His desire to remain anonymous earns him the nickname “the Banksy of Rennes”. Aerial frescoes and HeolArt (FR) hyper-realistic portraits by Aero other references of Rennes street art also attract attention. Discover them on a stroll on your own or on a guided tour with Destination Rennes. On the first Sunday of the month, an open-air gallery, MUR, in Rue Vasselot, hosts artists from every walk of life who create original designs in front of spectators. Another highlight of street art is the Teenage Kicks (FR) Biennial, which provides a unique and demanding look at contemporary urban creation. The renewal of the Wall of Flame is one of the stars.

Map (FR)

Ideas

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2. When walls speak

Brest

From Port de Commerce to Recouvrance, via Les Capucins… In just a few years, Brest has become a giant canvas for all kinds of street artists. Wen2 (FR) and PakOne, two figures of Brest urban art, regularly display their signature. As well as Liliwenn, the initiator in 2011 of the project « Crime of minds », which led to the creation of around 20 works which are still visible. Follow the urban fresco trail « Les murs prennent la parole » (FR), on the right bank, Rue Anatole France in particular. Increasingly rare in the city, the silhouettes of Paul Bloas (FR), another reference from Finistère, can be discovered at the Up Art gallery in Recouvrance.

Map (FR)

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3. Art by paint cans

Saint-Nazaire

The Les Escales (FR) festival has left some lovely imprints in the Ville-Port and Petit-Maroc districts. On the walls of the Les Caraïbes residence, the panoramic fresco of fynbos, a flower typical of the Cape Floral Kingdom, by the South African Nardstar, will make you smile, while the monumental portraits of Adnate are mesmerising. The American, Ellen Rutt, makes shapes and colours dance in an abstract composition that illuminates the Panama building. On Avenue Léon Blum, the elegant artwork mainly in black and white by David de la Mano (FR) summons the collective memory and significant historic facts. In Saint-Nazaire, street art also involves the Oides (« Fingers » in slang). Theses are little blue characters to follow through the town centre to the Chemin des Douaniers… and even beyond. There are thought to be more than 500 of these throughout the region.

Saint-Nazaire tourisme

4. An open-air gallery

Saint-Brieuc

Initiatives abound in Saint-Brieuc to make the town into an open-air gallery. Near the renovated high-speed train station, a local collective has launched the project “Robien les murs” and collects a host of treasures there such as the giant handshake by the Parisian Yol. In Légué, in the hangar where the fishermen pile up their nets, and on the port walls too, Averi and others multiply their representations of the marine world. The Just do paint (FR) festival has already taken place twice (the 3rd edition is planned for June 2020) and has contributed to the creation of dozens of frescoes occupying entire sections of walls in the centre. A catalogue and guided tours (FR) on “History and street-art” provide a perfect introduction.

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5. Festivals and local gems

Morlaix Arts Tour and other discoveries

Set the cap for Morlaix bay to admire some of the most splendid mural paintings in France during the Mx Arts Tour throughout the month of June. Château du Taureau, fortified by Vauban, taken over by urban culture and graffiti, promises to be an incredible sight! Another famous spot is pays de Redon, with its local artists - Jeff the graffiti artist with his sensitive portraits– its wastelands and its festival too: Graffo Transfo, for two days in September. There are also wonderful events in Nantes, Saint-Malo, Concarneau, Lorient, etc. to discover Brittany in a different way.

Le Mx Arts Tour