Promoting the collections: Professionals at the core of museums

Thus, how do institutions in France and abroad guarantee the access, the study and the transmission of the collections? How do museums respond to their responsibility and mission regarding its collection? How are professionals serving, in a sustainable perspective, the collections and the public?

The collections will be the starting point of our discussion. They allow us to remember the initial mission of museums and the responsibility of the professionals who serve the collections. We will ask ourselves what it means to ‘serve’ the collections. How can we facilitate the mobility of professionals from one institution to another, from one country to another, and what is the role of the various international professional organisations in this respect: ICOM, ECCO, …?

The discussion will present the place of curator-restorers in the service of museums as a case study in the professional ecosystem. Several cases will illustrate the talk. Lastly, it will mention the work at the European level in this profession. It is a pilot work and allows progress on the designation of skills and interactions between different professions, within the framework of the CHARTER project (European Cultural Heritage Skills Alliance).