European Heritage Days 2024. Priceless works in the hands of INP student restorers

Should we see this as an effect of the Notre-Dame de Paris construction site? Young people are increasingly interested in the renovation of built heritage. On the other hand, few of them are attracted by the rescue of smaller objects.

At the National Heritage Institute (INP)*, there were 122 people competing this year to enter the restorers’ department in Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis), more than 80% of whom were girls. These figures have remained constant since 1977 and the creation of a first school dedicated to national collections in Paris.

It must be said that the selection process at the entrance is tough: only 19 students are admitted. They must then choose a specialty – painting, sculpture, furniture, textile arts, graphic arts and books, fire arts (ceramics, glass, enamel, metal), or photography and digital imaging. “We are a niche within a niche,” acknowledges Amélie Méthivier, assistant to the director of studies. “But at the end of the five years of training, integration is guaranteed.”

A reassuring prospect for Thaïs, one of the 549 graduates already graduated from the school. “I first fell in love with bookbinding and gilding, but since the clientele was rare, I preferred to reorient myself towards conservation and restoration, a sector where budgets are renewed every year,” confides the one who is currently doing an internship at the Chester-Beatty library in Dublin (Ireland).

Her goal? To become independent in order to have a wider range. “What I like most of all is being able to establish a real bond with unique objects. There are few of us who have such a privilege.”

* The open days of the Aubervilliers workshops will take place on September 21, 2024 and January 10, 2025.