The director of the INP, Charles Personnaz, accompanied the French President of the Republic to Lebanon in early September 2020. His participation to the official delegation showed the INP’s commitment in cooperating with Lebanese heritage professionals.

This commitment has been taking shape for many years through the hosting in France of Lebanese heritage professionals and students, within the framework of two types of training sessions provided by the establishment. In addition to this, field school projects were organised at Beit Gazo restoration centre in 2019 and at the photo library of the Saint-Joseph University in 2021, and conservation-restoration students of the INP have taken part in internships in Lebanon at the Saint-Joseph University in 2020, and in 2021 in Byblos and at the American University of Beirut.

Since the explosion on the 4th of August 2020 in the port of Beirut, the INP has been sought after in an emergency to send qualified conservator-restorers and to coordinate sending three architects and one structural engineer in the neighbourhoods of Beirut that were destroyed, in partnership with the Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine.
The conservator-restorers intervened in two museums: the Sursock Palace in September 2020, where Caroline Gelot worked on graphic works and books, and the archaeological museum of the American University of Beirut, where Claire Cuyaubère worked in September 2020 and June 2021 to secure and restore part of the glass collection.

These projects were financed thanks to the support of the international grant organisation ALIPH.

In parallel, the INP benefits from the support of the French ministry of foreign affairs (ministère de l’Europe et des affaires étrangères) in implementing structural and sustainable regional projects in Lebanon, with three components over two years:

Capacity-building and training courses for the staff of Lebanon’s General Directorate of Antiquities
Support for the establishment of a course in conservation-restoration based at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts – University of Balamand
Reinforcement of the museology curriculum at the Lebanese University