UNESCO and museums
Movable cultural objects and the museums in which they are conserved constitute exceptional repositories of cultural diversity.
As points of access for knowledge about cultures and centres of—formal and non-formal—education, museums also contribute to mutual understanding and social cohesion as well as economic and human development.
Creation and heritage
Museums foster an integrated approach to cultural heritage as well as the links of continuity between creation and heritage. They also enable various publics, notably local communities and disadvantaged groups, to rediscover their roots and approach other cultures. Nevertheless, many museum staff lacks—often severely—the technical knowledge that meets international professional standards. Moreover, movable cultural objects are particularly threatened, due to their value both as commercial goods and as components of cultural identity, by illicit trafficking.
Therefore, UNESCO’s strategy focuses on: Least Developed Countries (LDC) and countries in emergency situations (post-conflict or post-natural disaster), particularly in Africa; and the museums and collections that best contribute to an integrated understanding of heritage and their potential contribution to the economic, social and human development of local communities and disadvantaged groups. This strategy is implemented through: training activities involving simple and efficient techniques for safeguarding objects, with a special emphasis on the creation of pedagogical tools; museum development by strengthening professional networks and partnerships; improving educational content and access to knowledge through awareness-raising and educational activities; promoting the return, restitution and improved access to cultural objects by means of awareness-raising and advisory activities and innovative partnerships; and finally, through the joint implementation of normative and operational activities, particularly in regard to the fight against illicit trafficking and the protection of underwater heritage.
Safeguard and preserve the heritage
Museums, which are centres for conservation, study and reflection on heritage and culture, can no longer stand aloof from the major issues of our time. Yet museums have not always existed, being of fairly recent origin in the cultural history of humanity. So what are museums today and what is their purpose?
The definition of museums has changed course in the two centuries since they came into existence. Today they are "non-profit-making, permanent institutions in the service of society and its development, and open to the public, which acquire, conserve, research, communicate and exhibit, for purposes of study, education and enjoyment, material evidence of people and their environment". Long associated with the tastes of European monarchy, collections of objects can be found in most cultures. They bear out a relationship with the past that attaches value to tangible traces left by our ancestors, and aim to protect them and even make them essential to the functioning of human society. Side by side with the monumental heritage, such collections now constitute the major part of what is universally known as the cultural heritage.
The museological heritage is both an actor and an instrument of dialogue between nations and of a common international vision aimed at cultural development. The latter may vary considerably in nature and form, depending on the historical and cultural context.
A museum’s primary purpose is to safeguard and preserve the heritage as a whole. It carries out whatever scientific study is required to understand and establish both its meaning and its possession. In this sense, it helps in the preparation of a global ethic based on practice for the conservation, protection and diffusion of cultural heritage values. A museum’s educational mission, whatever its nature, is every bit as important as its scientific work.
A museum also presents the interactions between culture and nature: an increasing number of museums are focusing their interest on science, natural science and technology.
Finally, a museum works for the endogenous development of social communities whose testimonies it conserves while lending a voice to their cultural aspirations. Resolutely turned towards its public, community museums are attentive to social and cultural change and help us to present our identity and diversity in an ever-changing world.
The International Council of Museums (ICOMOS)