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| this photo and the next one by the Bannalec town hall |
Bannalec is a French community with around 5700 inhabitants (2021), located in the department of Finistère in the region Brittany.
Life and works
In this community, in an ordinary house in an ordinary street, there is an extraordinary collection of more than a thousand dolls, decoratively arranged in most rooms of the house. The collection was assembled by Annie André and is open to visitors on certain days and by appointment.
Annie André grew up on a farm on the edge of the town of Bannalec, where her father bred horses. As an adult, she would work in a nursing home for the elderly. Currently she is retired.
It all started when she was thirty years old and somehow came into possession of a doll. She was apparently so impressed by this, that she started collecting dolls. She looked around at flea markets and thrift stores, and bought dolls there for little money. Once her new hobby had become known, dolls were also donated by families whose children had grown up.
Where necessary, Annie herself made new clothes for the dolls. And so, over the years the collection grew and grew, with a place of honor for her very first acquisition.
Around 2004, Annie André came to live in the house in the rue de la Gare. In 2008, she opened the house to visitors, some of whom became regulars and assisted her..
The collection gradually became better known, through the website of the municipality and also through articles in the local and regional press.
Collections of dolls elsewhere
In the field of art environments in Europe there are more sites filled with a large collection of dolls, such as in France the (now disappeared) decorated facade of the house of Francis Barale in the Bouches-du-Rhône.
In Russia there is the collection of Margarita Travkina, in the Czech Republic the one of Lubomir Votava, in Ukraine the one of Vasil Hlushkovski (now closed) and in Latvia the one of Daina Kučere.
Documentation
* Article on the website of the municipality of Bannalec
* Article (2023) on the website of regional journal Le Télégramme
* Article (2017) on the website of regional newspaper Ouest France
Annie André
La maison des poupées
33 rue de la Gare
29380 Bannalec, dept Finistère, region Brittany, France
visitors welcome on open days and on appointment,
see website of the municipality
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