Catherine Antomarchi was awarded the prestigious ICOM-CC medal for her contribution to the conservation of cultural property, at the nineteenth ICOM-CC Virtual Triennial Conference hosted in Beijing in May 2021. For more than 35 years, until her departure in 2019, Catherine was a pivotal member of the ICCROM team, spearheading the development and delivery of innovative courses and educational tools.
In the 1990s, Catherine helped implement PREMA (Preventive Conservation for Museums in Africa), a comprehensive programme of year-long courses run in collaboration with English and French universities, from which two important agencies serving francophone and anglophone countries in Africa emerged: École du Patrimoine Africain (EPA) and the Centre for Heritage Development in Africa (CHDA). The Commonwealth Association of Museums made Catherine an Honorary Member of the Cowrie Circle for her efforts.
Catherine’s extensive studies into methods for effectively educating and training museum professionals has led her to author or co-author 20 papers on the subject. As Director of ICCROM’s Collections Unit, she oversaw delivery of collections training programs across the world, strongly advocating that they should result in true capacity transference and support broader strategic initiatives. Catherine took personal responsibility for ICCROM's risk assessment course and the development of affiliated support tools, in view of a long-term strategy to help museums around the world make better decisions about collection conservation.
During her last years at ICCROM, Catherine oversaw the creation of RE-ORG, a key tool in addressing issues related to museum storage. Today, the methodology she helped develop is being applied to museum collections in numerous countries around the world.
Throughout her extraordinary career, Catherine has dedicated considerable time and effort toward supporting future generations of cultural heritage professionals, and the many interns and fellows who passed through her unit carry fond memories of her warmth, hospitality and conversations. Firm in the belief that conservation and its protection require thinking beyond conventions, her energy and ability to bring together people from a range of backgrounds has had a significant impact on the way many view their work as well as the sector.
We congratulate Catherine on this well-deserved recognition from ICOM-CC.