Emergency protection

The safety of people comes first. Next, set priorities: the most precious, most vulnerable and easiest-to-move works are put to safety first. Each piece is photographed, numbered and listed before it is moved.

Fragile or bulky pieces are protected on site: covering, wedging, walling up. Painted floors and walls are covered with geotextile. Archives are put in watertight crates and digitised as soon as possible.

On receiving a call, the emergency unit assesses the situation with the institution concerned and local partners. It activates the emergency fund if necessary, mobilises conservation, logistics and digitisation experts, and organises transport of teams and equipment.

The teams work in accessible and safe areas. They do not replace local actors but support them: they bring equipment, know-how and coordination. A referent stays on site until the end of the intervention.

Once the crisis has passed, the team draws up a review: state of the collections, losses, restoration needs. A recovery plan is proposed, with a timetable and a budget. Works taken out are returned to their places of origin when conditions allow.

A lessons-learned report is written and shared with other institutions. Each intervention has enriched the standard plan and the training offered by OIMAP.

The best emergency protection is the one that has been prepared. OIMAP offers a standard protection plan, adaptable to each institution: list of priority pieces, evacuation procedures, contacts, equipment, refuge sites.

It also offers annual exercises, simulating a crisis scenario. Institutions that have prepared in this way react markedly better and lose fewer works.