Records and Archives

International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property

Our Mission

The mission of ICCROM’s Records and Archives is to supervise and administer the creation, organization, maintenance, retention and disposal of ICCROM records, as well as to perform archival processing (arrangement, description and housing) gaining physical and intellectual control over the records. The aim is to ensure the long-term preservation of both analogue and digital records, and provide access for study and research purposes.

News

2023-02-08

Ethiopia: Detail of angel ceiling, Debre Berhan Selassie Church, Gondar

For February’s resource, our destination is Ethiopia, famed for its spectacular natural sites and distinctive cultural heritage extending deep into

2022-12-01

Italy: On-site repositioning of mural painting fragments, Ovetari Chapel, Church of the Eremitani, Padua (Cappella Ovetari in the Chiesa degli Eremitani)

The 13th-century, Gothic-style Church of Eremitani in the northern Italian city of Padua was decorated with mosaics by the greatest

2022-10-06

Italy: Portico of Octavia, Rome

The Portico of Octavia was built by Augustus in the 1st century BC. Today, the portico’s remains have been annexed

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Heritage and People

The Archives are the trusted custodian of the memory of ICCROM. They are essential to the good governance of the organization as they provide evidence, explanation and justification both for past actions and current decisions. The heritage that they preserve is unique and, if lost, cannot be replaced.

Currently the Archives store over 800 linear meters of records produced by ICCROM from its inception in 1956 up to the present. These records testify:

the activities undertaken by ICCROM all over the world, such as missions, programmes and projects for capacity building, advice, advocacy and research concerning the preservation of cultural heritage worldwide;
the interactions with Member States, partner institutions, communities and individual professionals;
the policymaking work of its governing bodies: General Assembly, Council, Office of the Director-General; and the finance and administration of the organization.

The Archives preserve not only textual records (both analogue and digital) but also architectural drawings (around 4 500), posters, images (including over 230 000 analogue photographs), motion picture films and audiovisual recordings (over 10 000), and didactic and scientific materials, such as heritage material samples (over 5 000 from the Sample Collections of Paolo and Laura Mora, Giorgio Torraca and Rodolfo Luján-Lunsford).

Many stories of heritage and people can be discovered among these records. We hope ICCROM Archives can stimulate research and contribute to making progress in the heritage preservation field.