Principles and methods of conservation and restoration
Knowing the principles of intervention on heritage or specific procedures is imperative before any intervention on heritage. These interventions involve risks for the understanding, safeguarding and transmission of these assets.
For the owners and scientific managers of cultural goods, who have the duty to preserve them in order to pass them on to future generations, intervening or not intervening in a cultural good is therefore a decisive choice.
To this end, France has legislation and a specific organization for interventions on monumental or movable heritage.
The interventions are subject to scientific and technical control by the State departments in all the heritage fields covered by the heritage code :
- Book II on archives;
- Book III on libraries;
- Book IV on museums in France;
- Book V on archaeology;
- Book VI on historical monuments.
The scientific and technical control is both advice and expertise of the State services for the proper implementation of a project that the verification that the project will not hinder the proper conservation of the asset and its transmission to future generations.
Any owner must therefore refer to the legislation and regulations in force depending on the sector in question in order not to make mistakes about the procedure to be followed, whether in terms of project development, declaration of work or selection of competent professionals.
This chapter provides access to all relevant information and a number of useful documents to learn about international principles of intervention on heritage or specific procedures.
International bodies, charters and recommendations
The international inter-professional organizations (ICOM, ICOMOS, IFLA) have produced texts on the principles of conservation-restoration interventions, whether in the field of built heritage or in the field of movable heritage, archives and collections.
It is important for all professionals (curators, restorers, architects and companies, conservation scientists) to know and make known these documents which constitute the international framework of any conservation-restoration intervention.
Some have also acquired a broader vocation than the objective of their initial drafting, such as the 1964 Venice Charter (below) or the document on the authenticity of Nara from 1994.
Charter of Venice
The International Charter on the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites, known as the Venice Charter (available in full on the Icomos website), is a treaty that provides an international framework for the preservation and restoration of ancient buildings. It was approved by the Second International Congress of Architects and Technicians of Historic Monuments, held in Venice from 25 to 31 May 1964.
ICCROM
TheICCROM is an intergovernmental organization (OIG) dedicated to the conservation of cultural heritage. Its members are independent states that have declared their membership in the organisation. It was created to serve the international community represented by its member states, whose number currently exceeds 132.
It is the only institution of its kind with a global mandate to promote the conservation of cultural heritage, both movable and immovable, in all its forms.
ICCROM aims to improve the quality of conservation practice and increase public awareness of the importance of preserving cultural heritage.
ICCROM contributes to the conservation of cultural heritage in the world, today and in the future, through five main areas of activity: training, information, research, cooperation and awareness raising
ICOM
The International Council of Museum The International Council of Museums is the leading international organization representing museums and museum professionals.
Since 1946, ICOM has been supporting the actors of the museum community in the preservation, conservation and transmission of cultural property. The International Council of Museums is surrounded by institutional partners to carry out this mission.
ICOM is characterized by hierarchical and inclusive global governance. It brings together nearly 30,000 members and is organized into National Committees, representing 137 countries and territories, and International Committees, bringing together museum experts from around the world.
Download the ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums, 2004 - PDF
ICOM-CC
With its 21 working groups, theICOM-Commitee for Conservation is a unique forum where conservators, scientists, curators and other professionals work on the study and development of conservation and examination of works of cultural and historical significance. Members attend specialized international meetings and receive newsletters from the Bureau and working groups as well as the publication Preprints, which is published at triennial meetings. Over 1,000 professional reports have been submitted and published by ICOM-CC over the past ten years.
ICOMOS
TheICOMOS is dedicated to the conservation and protection of cultural heritage monuments, complexes and sites and to promoting the theory, methodology and technology applied to the conservation, protection and enhancement of monuments and sites. It is a network of experts and benefits from the interdisciplinary exchanges of its members, including architects, historians, archaeologists, art historians, geographers, anthropologists, engineers and urban planners.
ICOMOS members contribute to the preservation of heritage and the advancement of restoration techniques and the development of standards for all real cultural heritage properties: buildings, historic cities, historical gardens, cultural landscapes and archaeological sites.
IFLA
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions : The International Federation of Library Associations and Libraries (IIFB) is the leading international organization representing the interests of libraries, information services and their users.
There is a section within the IIFB "Preservation and Conservation"concerned with the conservation of the world documentary heritage. It allows any library to exchange, develop and disseminate knowledge and experiences related to the conservation of this heritage, whatever the medium. This section works in close collaboration with the "Fundamental Preservation and Conservation Programme, CAP of the IIFB".
National legislation, regulations and recommendations
Wealth code
The heritage code provides for a number of intervention rules that differ by area:
- The archives
- Libraries
- The museums
- Archaeology
- The historical monuments
Scientific and technical control is the common framework of these rules, which specify, as appropriate, the procedures for checking the qualification of the workers, for authorizing or giving prior notice and for checking the quality of the interventions.
Any owner of a property protected under any title of the code of patrimony must check the rules in use and get closer to the Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs (DRAC) The European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection, Public Health and Consumer Protection, Consumer Protection and Consumer Protection, Consumer Protection and Consumer Protection.