The conservation and restoration of cultural property focuses on protection and care of cultural property, including artworks, architecture, archaeology, and museum collections. Conservation activities include preventive conservation, examination, documentation, research, treatment, and education. This field is closely allied with conservation science, curators and registrars.
In the broadest sense, cultural resource management (CRM) is the vocation and practice of managing heritage assets, and other cultural resources such as contemporary art. It incorporates Cultural Heritage Management which is concerned with traditional and historic culture. It also delves into the material culture of archaeology. Cultural resource management encompasses current culture, including progressive and innovative culture, such as urban culture, rather than simply preserving and presenting traditional forms of culture.
The International Council on Monuments and Sites is a professional association that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the world. Now headquartered in Charenton-le-Pont, France, ICOMOS was founded in 1965 in Warsaw as a result of the Venice Charter of 1964, and offers advice to UNESCO on World Heritage Sites.
LASALLE College of the Arts is a publicly-funded post-secondary arts institution, and a soon-to-be University of the Arts by 2023 in alliance with Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore.
Historic preservation (US), heritage preservation or heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philosophical concept that became popular in the twentieth century, which maintains that cities as products of centuries’ development should be obligated to protect their patrimonial legacy. The term refers specifically to the preservation of the built environment, and not to preservation of, for example, primeval forests or wilderness.
Conservation and restoration of immovable cultural property describes the process through which the material, historical, and design integrity of any immovable cultural property are prolonged through carefully planned interventions. The individual engaged in this pursuit is known as an architectural conservator-restorer. Decisions of when and how to engage in an intervention are critical to the ultimate conservation-restoration of cultural heritage. Ultimately, the decision is value based: a combination of artistic, contextual, and informational values is normally considered. In some cases, a decision to not intervene may be the most appropriate choice.
A conservator-restorer is a professional responsible for the preservation of artistic and cultural artifacts, also known as cultural heritage. Conservators possess the expertise to preserve cultural heritage in a way that retains the integrity of the object, building or site, including its historical significance, context and aesthetic or visual aspects. This kind of preservation is done by analyzing and assessing the condition of cultural property, understanding processes and evidence of deterioration, planning collections care or site management strategies that prevent damage, carrying out conservation treatments, and conducting research. A conservator's job is to ensure that the objects in a museum's collection are kept in the best possible condition, as well as to serve the museum's mission to bring art before the public.
The International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC) is a global organisation for conservation and restoration professionals with over two thousand members in over fifty countries. IIC seeks to promote the knowledge, methods and working standards needed to protect and preserve historic and artistic works throughout the world.
The University of Auckland Faculty of Arts, is a large faculty providing a range of programmes in over 50 subjects. The faculty is based on the city campus, however the departments are spread all over the campus. The main building, Arts 1, is located on Symonds Street.
A Cultural Property is administered by the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs, and includes tangible properties ; intangible properties ; folk properties both tangible and intangible; monuments historic, scenic and natural; cultural landscapes; and groups of traditional buildings. Buried properties and conservation techniques are also protected. Together these cultural properties are to be preserved and utilized as the heritage of the Japanese people.
Warwick James Rodwell is an archaeologist, architectural historian and academic. He is Visiting Professor in the Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, and Consultant Archaeologist to Westminster Abbey, where he is also a member of the College of St Peter in Westminster. He is the author of many books and articles, including the standard textbook on church archaeology. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and the Royal Historical Society.
Heritage science is the interdisciplinary domain of scientific study of cultural or natural heritage. Heritage science draws on diverse humanities, sciences and engineering disciplines. It focuses on enhancing the understanding, care and sustainable use of heritage so it can enrich people's lives, both today and in the future. Heritage science is an umbrella term encompassing all forms of scientific enquiry into human works and the combined works of nature and humans, of value to people.
Jonathan Foyle is an architectural historian, broadcaster and advocate for heritage sites. He is also an artist.
Since 1974, the conservation graduate programs have held an annual meeting at one of the member programs in order to give current students the opportunity to present current research to their peers.
A conservation scientist is a museum professional who works in the field of conservation science and whose focus is on the research of cultural heritage through scientific inquiry. Conservation scientists conduct applied scientific research and techniques to determine the material, chemical, and technical aspects of cultural heritage. The technical information conservation scientists gather is then used by conservator and curators to decide the most suitable conservation treatments for the examined object and/or adds to our knowledge about the object by providing answers about the material composition, fabrication, authenticity, and previous restoration treatments.
The National Museum Institute of the History of Art, Conservation and Museology (NMIHACM) is an autonomous institute, a seat of higher education in the fields of History, Conservation and Museology under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The Institute is a deemed university and is located at Janpath, New Delhi, within the premises of National Museum, New Delhi.
A photograph conservator is a professional who examines, documents, researches, and treats photographs, including documenting the structure and condition of art works through written and photographic records, monitoring conditions of works in storage and exhibition and transit environments. This person also performs all aspects of the treatment of photographs and related artworks with adherence to the professional Code of Ethics.
Om Prakash Agrawal is an Indian Conservationist and the founder member of several organizations related to cultural heritage and conservation such as Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Indian Council of Conservation Institute (ICCI) and the National Research Laboratory for the Conservation of Cultural Property (NRLC). He is the director general of INTACH Indian Conservation Institute and a former director general of ICCI and NRLC. The Government of India honoured him in 2011, with the award of Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award for his contributions to the area of conservation.
Aishwarya Tipnis is an Indian architect ,educator and heritage conservationist, whose eponymous practice Aishwarya Tipnis Architects focuses on heritage conservation of neglected monuments and significant buildings of India. In 2015, her work on the century-old Main Building of The Doon School received the Honourable Mention under the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation. In 2016, the firm's restoration work on the walls and bastions of the 18th-century Mahidpur Fort, in Madhya Pradesh, was given the Award of Merit under the UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Awards. In 2018, she became the youngest architect to be appointed the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for her preservation work of French heritage in India, particularly Chandernagore in West Bengal. Tipnis was part of the UNESCO Expert Team for preparing the Comprehensive Conservation Plan for the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. She has been recognised as a Global Cultural Leader by the European Union in 2016.
