N o 54 - IFLA

Teaching Preventive Conservation Course
at the Ecole du Patrimoine Africain
by Claude Laroque, Senior Lecturer, Master in Conservation-Restoration of Cultural Heritage Assets,
Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne University, France
In 1986 ICCROM 1 launched a new program called “PREMA”,
Prevention in Museums in sub-Saharan Africa. Gael Guichen,
who is behind this initiative, aimed to implement in African museums
a concept still very new in Europe at that time, preventive
conservation, thus initiating the rescue of African museum
collections. Indeed a survey conducted in over forty countries
revealed an alarming situation of their collections.
During the first ten years the program developed various actions
to create a “network of African professionals capable of
ensuring the conservation of museum collections in sub-Saharan
Africa and supporting the training of their colleagues”.
The objective is reached in about twelve years: the network
gathers over four hundred professionals from museums;
around thirty national and international courses were held in
which African teachers account for eighty percent; collection
rescues and exhibitions to enlight heritage were carried out in
various countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
During the early years, ICCROM entered in partnership agreements
with two universities, one French-speaking 2 and one
English-speaking 3 to help the implementation of the curriculum
and issuing diplomas.
Classes are given alternately in French and English, making it
accessible to the majority of African countries.
In 1998 ICCROM, in order to relocate PREMA program on the
African continent, signed an agreement with the National University
of Benin 4 for the creation of the Ecole du Patrimoine
Africain (EPA) 5 in Benin’s capital, Porto Novo. In Mombasa,
in Kenya, is created on the same design for English-speaking
counterpart, the Centre for Heritage Development in Africa
(CHDA) 6 .
EPA is an international nongovernmental organization; it aims
to “contribute to the dignity of the African man through the
recognition of the value of his cultural heritage.”
It defines its objectives according to four main lines:
• Strengthen the network of African professionals able of ensuring
the conservation and enhancement of cultural heritage;
1. International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of
Cultural Properties – Roma.
2. Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
3. London University.
4. UNB : Université Nationale du Bénin, 02 BP, 647 Gbégamey, Cotonou,
Bénin - Tel : (229) 304633.
5. EPA : Ecole du Patrimoine Africain, 01 BP 2205, Porto-Novo – Bénin ;
Tél. (229) 20214838, fax. (229) 20212109 ; www.epa-prema.net.
6. CHDA: Centre for Heritage Development in Africa, Old Law Court Building,
Nkrumah Road, P.O. BOX 90010 - 80100 Mombasa – Kenya; Tel. (254)
41 2225114; www.heritageinafrica.org.
1. Ecole du Patrimoine Africain, Porto Novo, Benin.
• Propose to African audiences, programs for the discovery and
re-appropriation of their cultural heritage;
• Promote projects of socio-economic development which include
the safeguarding and enhancement of cultural heritage;
• Contribute to the publishing and dissemination of publications
on African cultural heritage.
The school has two buildings totaling with a floor space of
1,700 square meters. Located in a lush garden, one of the
buildings is an Afro-Portuguese old style house, restored at the
time of the creation of the school and the other was completed
in 2010. Administrative offices, classrooms and workrooms are
well equipped to provide a high quality education.
The first mission of EPA was teaching conservation, management
and mediation of collections in African museums. It proposed
in this framework regional and international courses for
a wide range of museum staff that will ensure conservation and
enhancement of collections.
Its activities have subsequently diversified, broadening its scope
to libraries and archives, architectural heritage and intangible
heritage.
Thus, a program for libraries and archives staff was developed
in 2004. A first one month course set up in 2005 allowed to
evaluate expectations from the institutions. But it was in 2010
that was inaugurated the twelfth edition of the “International
Academic Course Professional bachelor degree in Conservation
of Heritage”, opened to candidates from museums, libraries
and archives.
Unlike the previous eleven editions, the course is organized into
seven blocks: the first five includes lessons common to Museums
and Archives-Libraries sections, the last two are dedicated
to each specialty.
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International Preservation News • No. 54 August 2011