In Situ (Jul 2017)
Chargé de la protection des monuments historiques : un professionnel du patrimoine au métier diversifié
Abstract
Since the beginnings of historic monuments protection in France during the 1830s, inspired by figures such as Ludovic Vitet and Prosper Mérimée, the State has considerably developed and refined its policies for the preservation of the built historic environment. To begin with the identification and documentation of buildings worthy of protection was carried out by local amateurs and scholars. Official historic monuments ‘recenseurs’ (surveyors, inspectors or enumerators) then took over this task. MoHiCan is an association founded in April 1960 to bring these professional heritage surveyors together. It aims to help them reflect collectively about the contemporary questions concerning the tools available for their missions and the nature of these missions at a time when the very notion of heritage, and the meaning given to this notion by society, is witnessing considerable change. This article goes back to the original definition of the rôle of these ‘recenseurs’, as ‘delegates entrusted with the survey of historic monuments and sites at the architectural directorate of the ministry of cultural affairs’, comparing this original mission with the present-day activities of these heritage professionals. The recenseur is a vital actor in the process of defining heritage, in permanent contact with monument owners and with other official services at State and local levels. He or she is also someone who, thanks to his or her knowledge of the field, can interpret a region’s heritage. The dynamism of the MoHiCan association bears witness to the vitality of the ways these different missions are carried out. Using precise examples, the article will show how field research and documentary enquiries in libraries and archive depots play a decisive part in how a building comes to be recognised for its heritage values. This recognition can also involve the definition of legal strategies to ensure the preservation of the monument. Thanks to their scientific and administrative expertise in the tasks of interpreting the heritage, of animating networks or managing data bases, the variety of their skills and the technical seriousness of their documentary work, these recenseurs occupy an essential and central rôle in the procedures of historic monuments preservation.
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