From Functions to Profession: The Emergence and Rise of Registrar Professions in Europe

Abstract

The functions of registration arose with the emergence of the modern museum in 18^th century Europe and the United States, and through the nascent practices of inventorying and cataloguing collections, which were associated with persons in charge of register and collection documentation. However, the registrar profession—in the current sense of the term—emerged only at the end of the 20^th century in Europe. It is rooted in the development, in the late 1980s, of support and operational functions in museums. This development arose from the thorough specialisation of culture and heritage professions, coupled with increasing professionalisation driven by Anglo‐American models of registration.

This article retraces the development of the registrar profession in France from the 1980s to its maturation at the turn of the 21^st century, a culminating period that was primarily marked by strong institutional recognition. This increased recognition is identifiable through some of the following: the definition of registrars’ tasks and activities, the formalisation of employment settings, the organisation of collection management services, the emergence of training seminars and lectures, and the creation of professional associations. In this context of institutional standardisation, the figure of the European registrar gradually came into being—a development particularly discernable in the regular organisation of professional meetings such as the European Registrars’ conference. Inaugurated in 1998, its transnational themes—including the flow and circulation of heritage objects, couriering issues, share of production costs, standardisation processes, and risk management skills—indicate a vision of international partnership based on the RC‐AAM model.

Notes

1. It is worth bearing in mind that references to the functions of curator and registrar in the United States appeared early on, mainly at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1906. At the time, the function of ‘curator assistant’ was abandoned in favour of ‘the registrar of the museum’; a relatively modern definition was elaborated in 1925, in the Code of Ethics for Museum Workers. See more on the history of the position in the United States in Buck and Gilmore (2010). Museum Registration Methods 5. New York: The AAM Press.

2. The report was based on Belmont's 1967 research on the status of American museums by the Federal Council of Arts and Humanities at the request of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The objective was to find a way to streamline and support American museums (see Buck and Gilmore 2010, p. 5). A similar effort was made in France with the publication of Philippe Richer's report (2003), which was commissioned in 2002 to address the issue of museum collections management.

3. Museums and Galleries Commission, National Security Advisor and the Museums and Galleries Commission ceased to exist in 2000. The National Security Advisor is now based at Arts Council England.

4. UK Registrars Group Constitution adopted at the AGM 1992, revised 2014. Available at: http://www.ukregistrarsgroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/UKRG-constitution-2014.pdf [accessed 27 June 2016].

5. In 1996 the British group organised a first informal meeting around the theme of couriering works; it later organised the first European Registrars Conference, held in London in 1998, which brought together 250 delegates representing 20 countries.

6. For example, in 2012 the Centre Pompidou agreed to the loan of 2,954 artworks according to the 2012 Activity Report of the Centre Pompidou, p. 238.

7. For further information, see the websites of various European national associations: http://www.ukregistrarsgroup.org; http://www.afroa.fr; http://www.registrarte.org; http://www.registrars-deutschland.de; www.armice.org; www.swissregistrars.ch; www.austrianregistrars.at

8. See the website http://www.lending-for-europe.eu for more on this topic: ‘[m]useums have a long tradition of sharing the cultural heritage in their custody with other museums and institutions. Lending objects to other museums is one of their most important tasks. Through the mobility of collections European citizens can become acquainted with their own and other cultures and are able to pass on this heritage to future generations. With the support of the European Commission and the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media a group of representatives from cultural institutions have established a website in order to facilitate mobility of objects between museums of all European Member States.’

9. The certification ISO 9001: 2000 was obtained by the Registrar Department at the Centre Pompidou in 2004, and was subsequently renewed in 2008. This international standard is a reference in the field of quality of services and organisation, not limited to the museum's field.

10. See the job description ROME K1602 – gestion de patrimoine culturel, Pôle Emploi. Available at: http://www.pole-emploi.fr/candidat/les-fiches-metiers-@/index.jspz?id=681 [accessed 24 May 2016].

11. Within this context, each of the elements in an exhibition (museum objects, substitutes, texts, etc.) can be defined as an expôt, that is to say, an exhibition element.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hélène Vassal

Hélène Vassal joined the Centre Pompidou in 2014 as Head of the Registrar's desk. With qualifications in political science (1990), cultural institutions management (1993) and preventive conservation (1998), she joined the French Ministry of Culture in 1989 and set up the Collections Registration Department of the Fondation nationale d'art contemporain (National Contemporary Art Fund), which she ran until 1998. The following year she joined the team of the musée Guimet during its renovation as Head Registrar (1999–2003) and then as Director of the Museography Department (2004–2006). In 2006 she took part in the opening of the musée du quai Branly, and set up the Collections Management and Preventive Conservation section in the Heritage and Collections Department. She joined Agence France‐Muséums in October 2008 as Head Registrar and was subsequently appointed as Director of Collections Management and Operations. She founded the Association of French Registrars in 1997 and plays a very active role in setting up training courses in this field. In 2006, the École du Louvre appointed her Director of the department where she teaches a postgraduate course in Heritage Careers. She is also a lecturer at Paris‐Sorbonne Abu Dhabi University and is a member of ICOM since 1998. She was elected as member of the board of ICOM's International Committee for the Training of Personnel (ICTOP) from 2010 to 2016. She is also a board member of the ICOM National Committee in France.

Sophie Daynes‐diallo

Sophie Daynes‐Diallo joined the musée du Louvre's Department of Egyptian Antiquities in September 2009 as Collection Registrar. She holds a graduate degree in Fine Arts, with qualifications in Humanities and Museum Studies (Paris I Panthéon‐Sorbonne, École du Louvre, INALCO, MNHN). She held previous positions at the musée de l'Assistance publique‐Hôpitaux de Paris and at the National Museum of Renaissance in Ecouen. She has been an active member of the association of French Registrars since 2009, and has a deep interest in promoting and teaching the art of registration. She has been teaching at the École du Louvre since 2006, in their Master's programmes in Museum Studies and in Heritage Careers. She conducts professional training for the French Ministry of Culture's Direction générale du patrimoine (General Heritage Division) and for the Institut National du Patrimoine (National Heritage Institute). She is a lecturer at Paris‐Sorbonne Abu Dhabi University.