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24 October 2026 · Updated at 07:47 GMT FR EN ES Member area Log in
Certification

Work passport

The unique digital identity of a work: content, use, updating and consultation of the OIMAP work passport.

Updated : October 28, 2026· 3 min read

The living memory of a work

The Four Seasons, Kano Tan’yū (1668)
The Four Seasons, Kano Tan’yū (1668)

The work passport brings together, in a single document, everything that is known about a work: its identity, its certificates, its successive owners, its expert reports, its restorations and its movements.

It is created at registration and is enriched with every act. It follows the work when it changes hands: the new owner receives the up-to-date version.

Each passport carries a QR code that leads to the public version, consultable by all; the full version is reserved for the owner and authorised professionals.

  • Identity
  • Certificates
  • Owners
  • History

The passport in figures

1passport per work
2versions: public and full
100%of acts are recorded in it
QRfor immediate consultation

Content of the passport

What a passport contains
SectionContentVisibility
IdentityNumber, description, photographsPublic
CertificatesAuthenticity, provenance, conservation, digitalPublic (extracts)
Title of ownershipCurrent ownerFull
HistorySales, loans, exhibitionsFull
RestorationsDeclared interventionsPublic
AlertsBIOP, appeals, suspensionsPublic

Life cycle of the passport

  1. Creation

    At registration: identity and photographs.

  2. Enrichment

    With every certificate, title, licence or event.

  3. Transmission

    On transfer of ownership: update of the owner.

  4. Consultation

    By QR or number, depending on rights.

  5. Archiving

    On destruction or loss of the work: the passport is closed but kept.

Letter Box, Ogata Kōrin (1700s)
Letter Box, Ogata Kōrin (1700s)
Flowers in a Glass, Ambrosius Bosschaert (1606)
Flowers in a Glass, Ambrosius Bosschaert (1606)
Sweet Melancholy, Joseph-Marie Vien (1756)
Sweet Melancholy, Joseph-Marie Vien (1756)

Public version and full version

Paper passport or digital passport

Portrait of a Man, Gustave Caillebotte (1880)

Paper

Document given to the owner
  • Signed and sealed
  • Usable without a connection
  • Updated by sheets

For transport and loans.

Seal with Two Qilin Playing (1849)

Digital

Online file
  • Always up to date
  • Accessible by QR
  • Associated with the fingerprint and the token

For professionals and transactions.

Use of the passport in 2024

Public sales44%
Insurance25%
Loans and exhibitions18%
Customs checks13%

Source: OIMAP Registry (indicative).

The versions of the passport

  1. Paper sheet

    First identity sheet of a work.

  2. Digital passport

    File consultable online.

  3. QR code and fingerprint

    Link with digital certification.

  4. Public version

    Consultation by the general public.

Case study: a customs check

A painting in transit

Situation

A carrier presents at the customs post a painting intended for an exhibition.

Actions
  1. The officer scans the passport's QR code.
  2. He consults the identity, the certificates and the absence of alerts.
  3. He checks the associated export licence.
Outcome

The check takes two minutes, without opening the crate.

What the passport does not say

The passport mentions neither the value of the work, nor the price paid in a sale, nor the owner's personal information in its public version. These data fall under other channels.

Nor does it replace the acts recorded in it: the title of ownership, the export licence or the certificate remain the documents that are authoritative; the passport brings them together and makes them readable.

Still Life with Vegetables, Partridge, and a Jug, Adolphe-Félix Cals (1858)
Still Life with Vegetables, Partridge, and a Jug, Adolphe-Félix Cals (1858)
Carved Lacquer Scroll Box (1736–95)
Carved Lacquer Scroll Box (1736–95)
Edge of the Woods Near L'Hermitage, Pontoise, Camille Pissarro (1879)
Edge of the Woods Near L'Hermitage, Pontoise, Camille Pissarro (1879)

Maintaining your passport

A simple idea

Document Box (Ryōshibako) with Chrysanthemum and Plum (lid) (late 1800s-early 1900s)
« A work passport is what allows a work to travel without anyone having to take its word for it. »
Secretary-General's Office, OIMAP

Vocabulary of the passport

Public version
Extract consultable by all.
Full version
Detailed file reserved for those entitled.
Transfer
Change of owner entered in the Registry.
Closure
Closing of a passport after destruction or loss.

Frequently asked questions

Is the passport mandatory?

It is created automatically at registration.

Who can consult the full passport?

The owner, the appointed experts and the professionals authorised by the owner.

Can I hide certain information?

Ownership information is already hidden in the public version.

What becomes of the passport in the event of theft?

It is suspended and a BIOP alert is entered in it.

Useful documents

Contacts

Architectural Conference (c. 1622)
Architectural Conference (c. 1622)
Certification DepartmentParis — Headquarters+33 1 00 00 00 00certification@oimap.exampleMonday to Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Register a work

Still Life with Peaches, Auguste Renoir (1881)

Open a registration case to create the passport.

Submit a case
Image credits (16)
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