Advanced Master in Decorative Arts Assessment and Management

Formerly known as the “decorative arts” and “applied arts,” movable heritage encompasses the arts of textiles, metalwork, relief, glass, ceramics, as well as religious and secular furnishings.

While many of these art objects have great heritage and historical value, they have often fallen into obscurity. Marginalized in cultural policies, they are generally stored in museum storage or sacristies, when they are not simply sold at flea markets. But how can we discern, among these many objects, those that deserve our full attention? How can we understand their significance and how can we promote them?

Training experts in these fields has become crucial. A better understanding of these objects, along with proper conservation and management, is essential to ensure the preservation of major artifacts of our heritage and prevent their loss—as was notably the case during the floods of summer 2021.

Unique in Belgium, the specialized master’s program in movable heritage expertise and management addresses societal needs regarding the knowledge, conservation, and management of movable heritage.

Offered as a joint degree program by UNamur and UCLouvain, this specialized master’s program examines heritage objects from every angle—material, technical, stylistic, iconographic, historical, practical, and functional—to better understand their meaning and value, and thereby protect and revitalize them in our modern society.

• develop or enhance your expertise in condition assessment, management, and preventive conservation of European works of art from the Middle Ages to the 20th century;
• understand the heritage value of an object by making a critical and reasoned assessment of its various aspects;
• implement appropriate management and outreach policies;
• contribute to greater recognition and appreciation of these objects among professionals and the general public.

You will receive training from experts in various fields and disciplines: conservators specializing in medieval polychrome sculpture, researchers specializing in modern-era ceramics or textiles, collectors with expertise in a specific field or technique…

The training will primarily involve hands-on work with artifacts, either at the Laboratory of Archaeology and Art Sciences or in museums and churches.

The program consists of two parts.

Object Appraisal

This component covers the various fields of movable heritage: textiles, metalwork, relief art, glass, ceramics, as well as religious and secular furnishings.

Each course addresses these fields through three aspects:

• materials and techniques
• styles and iconographic themes
• uses, functions, and meanings from a historical perspective

Through a methodological approach based on concrete case studies, you will analyze these different dimensions to identify and understand the intrinsic value of the object—that is, its artistic, historical, archaeological, ethnological, or scientific value. This approach will serve as the foundation for updating knowledge with a view to better management and appreciation.

The program is offered in person, with classes held during the day (on Fridays) and in the afternoon (on Saturdays).

Faculty of Philosophy and Letters

Administrative Office 1
Rue
Grafé, 5000 Namur
Tel. 081/72 42 07
secretariat-etudiants.lettres@unamur.be

Program
Directors Prof. Michel Lefftz: michel.lefftz@unamur.be
Prof. Caroline Heering: caroline.heering@uclouvain.be