Cultural heritage objects are likely to be subjected to vibrations on numerous occasions.

When moving, either internally to a workspace from a reserve area, or externally for a loan, for example.

Vibrations can originate either inside the museum, as in the case of visitors’ footsteps or air conditioning systems, or from external sources such as construction work or public transport passing close to the museum.

Today, more and more sound events are taking place in museums, from fashion shows to concerts to sound and light shows. As a result, the high acoustic levels produced regularly cause objects and their supports to vibrate.

Among the various factors known to alter cultural property (climatic variations, UV, VOCs, microbiology, etc.), shocks and vibrations are the ones most rarely considered by heritage professionals.

However, repeated or occasional vibrations, even of low amplitude, can lead to cracking and fracturing. Cultural heritage objects must therefore be protected against this source of deterioration.

The aim of this two-day symposium is to give a voice to the various stakeholders in the heritage sector – preventists, conservator, curators and conservation scientists – to discuss practical solutions for protecting objects against vibrations, as well as problems that have been encountered so far but for which solutions have not yet been found.

The first day, devoted to presentations, will be divided into three sessions. Two presentation formats are possible: either a thematic presentation of around twenty minutes, or a brief presentation (2 minutes) of problems. The second day will feature practical workshops on vibration measurement and interpretation, organised around the problems submitted to the conference call and presented on the first day.

The three sessions will therefore focus on the following themes:

1. Vibration and transport
2. Vibration and environment of the collections
3. Vibration and events.

For more information, please visit the this website: https://www.inp.fr/agenda/appel-communication-colloque-international-vibration-conservation