UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

10/28/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/28/2024 13:21

UNESCO Archives in Venice: a gateway to cultural heritage

Venice's cultural heritage, rich in historic buildings and priceless artworks, has faced significant threats over the last decades. Environmental factors such as rising sea levels, pollution and the natural ageing of the monuments have endangered the city's historical and artistic legacy.

Numerous significant restoration projects have been undertaken as part of the UNESCO International Campaign for Venice (1966-1992), and the UNESCO - International Private Committees Programme for the Safeguarding of Venice (1993-2015). In partnership with the Committees and in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Culture, the City of Venice, the Patriarchate, as well as other local authorities, UNESCO has spearheaded many notable initiatives to preserve Venice's artistic and architectural treasures over the last 5 decades.

Despite this action, there was still an urgent need to preserve the knowledge collected and for the documentation to be accessible for historical-archival research as well as for future conservation efforts. To ensure continuity, UNESCO has endeavoured to create a comprehensive inventory, whose description is now available online, detailing the Programme files on restoration and preservation projects of Venetian monuments and works of art.

Physical documents of the programme files are available for consultation in Venice at the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe. This collection consists of the main project and technical documentation, including surveys and studies prior to restoration, photographic campaigns, technical and scientific investigations as well as documentation of the interventions, relating to the restoration initiatives financed or co-financed by the Private Committees, in 30 linear metres of textual material.

UNESCO

This inventory not only preserves but also enriches our collective memory and the broader memory of the Organization.

Magdalena Landry, Director, UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe

Composed of thousands of documents and divided into subseries, the online archive is now accessible through the UNESCO Archives database Access to Memory at this link. Designed for both professionals and the general public, the AtoM Catalogue is an important user-friendly resource to explore a portion of the archives, namely documents and audio-visual files of 223 boxes, preserved at Palazzo Zorzi, premises of the UNESCO Office in Venice.

The online platform provides detailed descriptions of over 40 years of work, assisting researchers in identifying relevant documents, and serving as a guide to the extensive archival materials on hand. Available in both English and Italian, the description work was supervised by the Reference Archivist and the Chief Archivist at UNESCO in Paris, ensuring accuracy and compliance with international archival standards.

The publication of this archival description marks a significant step forward for researchers and conservationists, in local and worldwide institutions. By providing access to these detailed records, UNESCO enables experts to plan their research before visiting the physical Archives in Venice. Remote access also reduces the need for immediate travel, streamlining research efforts, and promoting local and international collaboration.

The next step of this ambitious archive project would be the digitisation of UNESCO Archives in Venice, making them available online with recent technologies. UNESCO is currently seeking partners and funders to digitise its valuable archive which bears witness to interventions of great interest, both in terms of the quality of the works chosen and the restoration techniques and methodologies followed for the safeguarding of Venice.

UNESCO Archives belong to our shared documentary heritage, and should be protected, preserved and accessible to all. By doing so, UNESCO ensures that future conservation work will benefit from decades of recorded knowledge, safeguarding the city's cultural heritage for generations to come.

UNESCO

Through the dedicated work of UNESCO, the silent stories of Venice's past are now heard through the preservation of its archives for future generations.

Adama Pam, Chief Archivist, UNESCO