Patrimoine collectif des Nations/Patrimoine commun de l’Humanité. At the origins of the debate on the conservation of World Heritage

Abstract

The climate between the two world wars was a critical moment for the emergence of a debate on issues regarding the conservation of world heritage. In particular, all the innovative ideas that began to take shape in the early 20th century were amplified until they took on an international dimension. A fundamental role in this sense was played by the League of Nations and the whole series of organisations, such as the Institut International de Coopération Intellectuelle or the Office International des Musées, which at least partly formed the basis for the establishment of Unesco. The role played by the Office International des Musées, later inherited by Unesco, was decisive in triggering an intense exchange between scholars and technicians belonging to the various member states in the field of museology and cultural heritage conservation. As a result, in these decades initiatives on the restoration and conservation of monuments flourished, and among them above all La Conférence sur la conservation des monuments held in Athens in 1931. The political and cultural climate linked to this conference now represents a defining moment in understanding the start of an international debate on issues regarding the emergence of the concept of world heritage and its protection.