Brest (Finistère). Thirty years ago, Serge Tanguy, founding father of the young Passerelle association, decided to acquire an industrial wasteland in the Saint-Martin district to develop a new art center. In the eyes of the ambitious artist, the fruit and vegetable warehouse decommissioned in 1972 had certain advantages: an area of 4,000 m2, ideal for organizing large exhibitions, impressive volumes bathed in natural light thanks to the presence of a vast glass roof, all in a raw setting built in the 1940s and 1950s using the new pre-stressed concrete technique.
In the space of a few decades, the building has become a mecca for contemporary art in Brest. Passerelle has gained ground, so much so that it is the first art center to obtain the Cacin label in 2017, and part of the old warehouse has housed the activities of the Documents d’artistes Bretagne association since 2009, which publishes monographic files in collaboration with Breton artists.
However, you will have to wait until mid-2027 to explore its aisles again: the establishment closed its doors at the beginning of January to benefit from major renovation work linked to maintaining and improving security conditions. The City of Brest, to which Tanguy transferred ownership of the building in 1991 due to lack of resources, is solely financing the project, the budget of which is currently estimated at 744,000 euros.
Improved security and accessibility
Carried out under the aegis of the Brest design office Obiose Ingénierie, the work should be spread over a period of approximately eighteen months. On the program for the first phase of the project, initiated in January and which will end at the end of the first half of 2026: maintaining the building’s smoke extraction system to standards and diverting the wastewater and river networks, a preliminary step for the developments to follow. In the second half, Obiose Ingénierie will carry out the studies and programming of the work linked to the development of the reception area of the art center and the accessibility of the establishment for people with reduced mobility with the construction of a freight elevator. The start of work is planned for 2027.
The Passerelle team leaves its historic setting during the work period. The eight employees of the art center and the three members of the Documents d’artistes team joined, in mid-January, the premises of the Brest Métropole tourist office, in the building of the former Brest Naval Circle, which already welcomes artists as part of the provision of workshops since 2021 and artist residencies supported by Passerelle. A large part of the art center’s programming will take place there in 2026: the exhibitions will be presented in the large ballroom of the Cercle naval (300 m2) from March, with the exception of the summer exhibition, organized based on works from the Frac Bretagne, which will be inaugurated at the Manoir de Kerlaouen, in Lesneven (Finistère). The mediation workshops are organized in a room dedicated to the Naval Circle.
