Welcome Message

Dear Friends, 

Together with our local organising committee we are delighted to present the 27th biennial IIC Congress Preventive Conservation: The State of the Art. This year’s Congress will be held in Turin from 10th -14th September 2018 at the Politecnico di Torino, situated in the heart of the city.  

We are pleased to be working with our host partners the City of Turin, the IIC Italian Group, the Centro Conservazione Restauro La Venaria Reale and Turismo Torino e Provincia.

It will be 24 years since an IIC Congress last specifically addressed issues in preventive conservation in Ottawa in 1994. During that quarter of a century the field has developed enormously and preventive conservation has moved to the centre stage of museum, site and heritage management, contributing to the sustainability of organisations as well as the care of their collections. In addition to capturing developments and changes in scientific understanding and practice, this congress will focus on current issues that exercise our field. It will build on some recent IIC initiatives, including the 2008 Congress on Conservation and Access and the IIC/ICOM-CC environmental guidelines developed at the 2014 Hong Kong Congress. 

The location for the 2018 Congress is Turin, a city with a strong international profile and innovative industrial centre, yet, at the same time, a comfortable, relaxed ambience. Turin has a rich and varied cultural history from its ancient Roman past to the contemporary art scene that has transformed some of its former industrial areas. For three centuries from the late 16th century, the city was enriched under the rule of the Royal House of Savoy, seen in the Baroque splendour of its palaces and churches and its elegant arcaded streets. Royal residences and hunting lodges constructed for pleasure surround the city and the nearby regions of Piedmont and this ‘Crown of Delights’ around Turin is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Historic buildings such as these, painted, decorated and furnished with all the elements that contribute to the scheme as a whole, are frequently also the homes of museum collections; most also receive countless visitors. All these varied needs and potential issues are faced by those working within the field of preventive conservation. We do not want to lose the sense of place represented by an historic building, nor to cause damage to frail painted surfaces and furnishings inadvertently while welcoming visitors to experience the history of these unique sites. It is appropriate that one of the Savoy palaces, La Venaria Reale, is home to the Conservation and Restoration Centre, one of our partners in the 2018 Congress, together with the Italian Regional Group of IIC (IGIIC), the City of Turin itself and Turismo Torino e Provincia.

We look forward to seeing you in Turin.

Sarah Staniforth, 
President IIC