HAB Galerie

Located at the westernmost tip of Île de Nantes, Hangar 21 is better known by its moniker, Hangar à Bananes (aka, the “Banana Hangar) due to its unique history: designed in 1949-50, it was built to receive exotic fruit from Africa — like bananas and pineapples — which were then unloaded and stored in this air-conditioned hangar.

As property of the port of Nantes Saint-Nazaire, it was renovated to host the first edition of the Estuaire Nantes <> Saint-Nazaire art biennial in 2007, where it was used as a vast exhibition space.

Dubbed the HAB Galerie in 2011 — and managed by the public corporation Le Voyage à Nantes, which promotes Nantes and the surrounding region as a travel destination using culture — this permanent space is dedicated to contemporary art. Exhibitions here offer an opportunity to explore an artist’s work, which is planned and completed in-situ, whether it features videos, sculptures, paintings, installations — or all the above.

HAB Galerie also boasts an excellent bookstore- gift shop, with a wide array of publications on contemporary art, art history, architecture, design, graphic novels, children’s books, and a selection of original objects made by local creatives.