Image: Musée du Faouët, Média ; Cliché A
The Musée du Faouët is presenting 'Les sonneurs vus par les artistes en Bretagne (1800-1950)' from April 4 through October 4, 2026, inclusive.
The exhibition brings together more than 120 works, objects and documents focused on the representation of the sonneurs.
Its subject is the musical pair formed by players of the biniou and bombarde, who are also called sonneurs in Brittany. The pair has been represented across painting, ceramics, engraving, photography and sculpture, among other media.
The sonneurs play at threshing floors, weddings and July 14 dances, among other occasions.
Artists cited by the museum include Pierre de Belay, Mathurin Méheut, Paul Fouillen and Paul Gauguin.
Beyond the oral transmission of their music, these bearers of collective memory have arranged their pieces and modernized their instrumental practice, which remains current in the 21st century.
