In recent weeks, the General Secretariat in Paris undertook a mission of utmost value for an international organisation celebrating its 70th anniversary next year: the processing and enhancement of its archives.

The story began in July 2014 with an audit by the Mission of the Archives of the French Ministry of Culture and Communication. The aims were clear: to assess the status and type of archives held by ICOM for several decades, and transfer the totality to the National Archives of France. For the time being, almost 70 years of history lie on shelves: General Conferences reports, the letters and mail of previous generations of the General Secretariat, and of course, documents of the National and International Committees.
Photographs, video recordings and assorted posters have also been stored in our offices since 1946. This written oral and visual memory of ICOM is a true testimony to evolutions in the world of museums, since the international community has recognised the need to protect and enhance the heritage of humanity.

Thus, over a month ago, ICOM welcomed the young archivist Benjamin Paradis, who will carry out this six-month mission. With a passion for history, he does not hide his pleasure in discovering, amidst dusty sheets, some notes from Georges-Henri Rivière, a famous member of ICOM and one of the founders of modern museology. The mission also has an educational component: in addition to the archives’ enhancement, Benjamin must implement an archiving policy for the Secretariat, and teach ICOM’s departments how to rationally classify their documents in the future. Indeed, ICOM’s mission, as a leader in heritage protection around the world, first starts in its own offices!