Conservation-Restoration: Definition
This refers to all measures and actions aimed at the
preservation of tangible cultural heritage. They must ensure that it remains accessible to
present and future generations. Conservation-restoration includes preventive conservation
, curative conservation, and restoration. All of these measures and actions must
respect the significance and physical properties of cultural property.
Preventive Conservation –
All measures and actions aimed at preventing and
minimizing future deterioration or loss. They are carried out within the context or
environment of a cultural property, but more often within that of a group of properties,
regardless of their age or condition. These measures and actions are indirect—they do not
interfere with the materials and structures of the properties. They do not alter the appearance of the properties.
Examples: measures and actions implemented to ensure proper inventory, storage,
handling, packaging and transport, security, environmental control (light, humidity, pollution,
infestation), emergency plans, staff training, public awareness, and compliance with
legal standards.
Restorative Conservation –
All actions undertaken directly on a cultural property or
a group of properties with the aim of halting an active process of deterioration or
structurally reinforcing them. These actions are implemented only when the very existence of the
properties is threatened, in the relatively short term, by their extreme fragility or the rapid pace of their
deterioration. These actions sometimes alter the appearance of the properties.
Examples: pest control for textiles, desalination of ceramics, deacidification of paper, controlled drying
of damp archaeological materials, stabilization of corroded metals, consolidation of murals,
and removal of weeds from mosaics.
Food Service –
All actions directly undertaken on a cultural property—whether unique or a "
" in a stable condition—with the aim of enhancing its appreciation, understanding, and use. These
actions are carried out only when the property has lost some of its significance or
function due to past deterioration or alterations. They are based on respect for the
original materials. Most often, such interventions alter the appearance of the object.
Examples of restoration interventions include: retouching a painting, reassembling the fragments of a broken sculpture,
reshaping a wicker basket, and filling in the gaps in a glass vase.
Conservation-restoration measures and actions can sometimes serve multiple purposes. For example,
the removal of a varnish can be considered both curative conservation and restoration,
the application of a protective coating can be part of both restoration and preventive conservation, and
the re-burial of mosaics falls under both preventive and curative conservation.
Conservation-restoration is a complex field that requires collaboration among qualified professionals in various relevant
fields. In particular, any project involving direct intervention on cultural heritage
requires a conservator-restorer. (See “Definition of the Profession,” ICOM-CC, Copenhagen, 1984, and the ICOM Code of Ethics.)
Source: Resolution adopted by the members of ICOM-CC at the 15th Triennial Conference, New Delhi, September 22–26, 2008.