The French Ministry of Culture’s Heritage and Architecture Directorate General is reviving a tradition dating back to 1988 and interrupted in 2013, by organising the Entretiens du Patrimoine (« Heritage Talks ») on November 28, 29 and 30, 2023, a meeting that will give to all the professionals in the sector (architects, curators, conservators, researchers, companies, associations, etc.), the opportunity to debate an issue at the very core of their activities. This meeting will take place on site at the musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac and online, by registration only.
The conservation and restoration of cultural heritage, in all fields (tangible, intangible, digital and natural), have undergone major changes since the Second World War and the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (1954). In 1964, the Venice Charter, which focused on monumental heritage but whose many points can be applied more widely to other heritage areas, had the ambition of formalising principles in order to constitute a European, if not international, framework. Other international documents, such as the Florence Charter on the restoration of historic gardens (1982), have since specified and completed it.
The elaboration and implementation by UNESCO of the 1972 World Heritage Convention, which brings together in a single document the protection of nature and the preservation of cultural heritage, completed in 1982 by the Budapest Declaration inviting citizens or “communities” to be more involved in the preservation of cultural heritage, and then the 2003 Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage opening the way to new policies for the heritage of social practices and know-how inherited from the past, have led to important developments at the global level.
Today, the twin green and digital revolutions, with their political, economic and societal consequences,.is disrupting practices. During three days, it will be proposed, in the light of these evolutions, to take stock of current conservation and restoration practices and to consider the evolutions that will appear necessary. How do they contribute to make tangible and intangible elements inherited from the past into future resources by giving them a new life? What techniques and materials are used for this purpose? How is the preservation and restoration of heritage changing in the face of the present and future effects of climate change? What is the place for heritage in the ecological transition?
The lectures that will be given during these three days do not pretend to cover all of this vast subject but their objective is to open the debate and to outline perspectives, in the light of practical examples and feedback, as well as the testimony of foreign experts. All communications will be translated into English and Italian.
Read the presentation of the Entretiens du patrimoine by Jean-François Hébert, Director General of Heritage and Architecture [French only].
Information, programme and registration. Please note that the workshop will be in French.