Paper short abstract:

The paper looks at the origins of the international network of experts in heritage conservation in Europe after World War II. It investigates in particular the background of two events preceding the creation of the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the adoption of the Venice Charter.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the origins of the international network of experts in heritage conservation in Europe in the aftermath of World War II.

With regard to the founding of ICOMOS as the first nongovernmental network of individual heritage professionals, two preceding events are particularly interesting: the 1st International Conference of Architects and Technicians of Historic Monuments, 1957 in Paris, France, and their 2nd International Conference in 1964 in Venice, Italy - attended each by several hundred participants and complemented by a major exhibition of conservation works from numerous countries. Their significance as junctions of expert knowledge flows and international relations cannot be underestimated, considering also that the Paris meeting took place only six months after the UNESCO General Conference's decision to create an intergovernmental centre for the study of restoration and conservation, ICCROM. The Venice conference is largely recognised at least as the background for the Charter, the one in Paris however appears significantly lesser known albeit it was the first of its kind after the Second World War and the immediate precursor to the meeting in 1964. Both events lasted a week and had the same key actors in early international heritage conservation among their organisers and lecturers, yet their programme and actual content seem oddly ignored today.

Analysing source documents, the paper illuminates the complex historical-political context of how global heritage conservation was shaped in the modern era. It offers insights into the network of individual protagonists, their affiliations with national/international bodies, and key questions of their exchange.