The higher education institution

The Institut national du patrimoine, a higher education institution of the Ministry of Culture, is responsible for the recruitment, by competitive examination, and initial training of heritage curators for the French State, local authorities and the City of Paris, as well as the selection, also by competitive examination, and training of heritage conservators-restorers qualified to work on public collections. Training for these two closely complementary professions in the same institution is unique in Europe.

Inp also offers a wide range of ongoing training courses for heritage professionals from France and abroad. With over 100 sessions organised throughout France, these courses attract almost 2,0000 participants a year.

It is also a centre for cultural dissemination, with conferences and symposia providing opportunities to work with other heritage and academic institutions, both in France and abroad.

Key dates

1977

Creation of the Institut français de restauration des œuvres d'art (IFROA), responsible for training student restorers and placed under the supervision of the Délégation aux Arts plastiques.

1990

Creation of the École nationale du patrimoine (decree no. 90-406 of 16 May 1990), a public establishment under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture, accompanying a major reform of the status of heritage conservation staff.
Decree no. 90-404 of 16 May 1990 provided the regulatory framework for a new body, that of heritage conservators, bringing together several previously separate specialities in different bodies of civil servants, recruited through separate competitive examinations.

1996

Attachment of the Institut français de restauration des œuvres d'art, now the Institut de formation des restaurateurs d'œuvres d'art (IFROA), to the École nationale du patrimoine (decree of 4 January 1996).

2001

Decree no. 2001-1236 of 21 December 2001 gave the institution its new name - Institut national du patrimoine (Inp) - and organised it around two educational departments, the department responsible for training curators and the department responsible for training restorers, and a general secretariat.