Façade de l'École du Louvre

After School

This section presents a non-exhaustive list of professions and professional sectors related to the courses taught at the École du Louvre.

Introduction

The various pages in the orientation section offer career guidance resources for École du Louvre students.

At the end of their course, École du Louvre students can move into museum and heritage professions.

There are many museum and heritage professions for which École du Louvre students are prepared at the end of their university course. Here are just a few examples.

 

Assistant/attaché territorial qualifié de conservation spécialité "Archives, bibliothèques et documentation"

In archive departments and libraries, they ensure the processing, study, enhancement and conservation of documents through scientific and financial management. 
Competition open to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de premier cycle.

General information:

 

Assistant/attaché territorial qualifié de conservation, spécialité "Musées"

He/she takes part in the conservation and enhancement of collections, and is sometimes responsible for welcoming the public.
Competition open to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de premier cycle.

General information:

 

Conservateur du patrimoine (Etat et Ville de Paris)

Whichever your speciality "Archaeology", "Libraries, Archives and Collections", "Inventaire Général", "Monuments Historiques", "Musées", "Patrimoine scientifique, technique et naturel", it constitutes heritage, inventories it, studies it, documents it, conserves it, preserves it, and participates in its dissemination.

  • Conservateur du patrimoine "Archéologie"
    He coordinates the scientific program for programmed and preventive excavations and guarantees their legal framework.
    He enhances the value of sites by defining the conservation program for archaeological remains and disseminating the results of research through publications or exhibitions. He or she is an essential part of the Regional Archaeological Service (SRA) within the DRAC (Directions Régionales des Affaires Culturelles), taking part in the inventory and archaeological mapping.
     
  • Conservateur du patrimoine "Bibliothèques, Archives et Collections"
    Within the various public archive services and centers, he or she inventories archives and classifies them by document type.
    He coordinates the maintenance and restoration of all archival media, and organizes their availability to different audiences, and organizes their reception.
     
  • Conservateur du patrimoine "Inventaire Général"
    Based on documentary research, he makes an inventory of all heritage elements within the DRACs, for which he writes analytical notes. He also maps sites in collaboration with researchers, local elected representatives and architects. He communicates on the protection of this heritage by organizing exhibitions, conferences, writing and distributing notices accessible to a wider public.
     
  • Conservateur du patrimoine "Monuments Historiques"
    He draws up the list of monuments, sites and objects to be "classified", to be the subject of studies and restoration campaigns.
    He is the interface between the COREPHAE (Commission régionale du patrimoine historique, archéologique et ethnologique), local authorities and potential owners, to ensure the follow-up of work undertaken on monuments and to support the cultural animation of sites.
     
  • Conservateur du patrimoine "Musées"
    He manages the inventory of collections, defines the program of scientific research and enhancement of collections in the museum space, and ensures preventive conservation. It disseminates this information by organizing exhibitions and temporary events. He/she administers the establishment and defines its external communications policy.
     
  • "Scientific, technical and natural heritage" heritage curator 
    He/she performs the same duties as a "museum" heritage curator, particularly in natural history museums, science museums or scientific and technical culture and research centers. He or she is most often a director of these institutions.

Competition open to students holding the Diplôme d'études supérieures de l'École du Louvre.

General information:

 

Conservateur du patrimoine territorial

Whatever his or her speciality "Archaeology", "Libraries, Archives and Collections", "Inventaire Général", "Monuments Historiques", "Musées", "Patrimoine scientifique, technique et naturel", he/she builds up heritage, inventories it, studies it, documents it, conserves it, preserves it, and participates in its dissemination. He performs these scientific and administrative functions within local authorities.
Competition open to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme d'études supérieures.

General information:

 

Régisseur d'œuvres d'art

He organizes and manages the circulation of the art object inside and outside the museum in collaboration with the curators, administrative, legal, scientific and technical departments. He/she ensures compliance with standards for the conservation and transportation of art objects, developing a policy of preventive conservation.
Competition open to École du Louvre students holding the Undergraduate Diploma.

General information:

 

Restorer

He makes an assessment of the condition of the deteriorated work of art before restoring its aesthetic and/or historical integrity. He/she integrates this scientific study into broader historical research, before drawing up specifications defining the principles of conservation of the work of art.
Competition open to École du Louvre undergraduates.

General information:

At the end of their course, École du Louvre students can move into cultural mediation professions.

There are many cultural mediation professions for which École du Louvre students are prepared at the end of their university course. Here are just a few examples.

 

Heritage coordinator for cities of art and history

He coordinates the various activities that enhance heritage and is responsible for setting up the educational services of Cities and Countries of Art and History. He organizes the training of social and tourist mediators and teachers. He is the initiator of temporary exhibitions promoting local heritage.
Function open to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de premier cycle.

General information:

 

Cultural attaché

Assists the cultural advisor, works within a French cultural institute or center.
Most often seconded from the teaching corps.
Competition open to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de deuxième cycle.

General information:

 

Chargé de mission pour les affaires culturelles/chargé de mission culture

He organizes, monitors and promotes cultural events and facilities. He/she communicates on cultural events for specific audiences (schools, institutions, companies...)
Function accessible to École du Louvre students holding the Graduate Diploma.

General information:

 

Guide-conférencier

He is in charge of tours in museums and monuments, in French and foreign languages. They are usually self-employed.
Examen d'aptitude professionnel open to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de deuxième cycle and validation of the "guide-conférencier" module:

General information:

 

Cultural advisor

He is in charge of an embassy's cultural department. He promotes all components of French culture abroad and develops cultural cooperation between his place of assignment and France.
Function accessible to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de deuxième cycle.

General information:

 

Cultural engineering consultant

The consultant proposes solutions to specific problems in the cultural landscape. He develops cultural projects using digital technologies and multimedia products. He manages their realization by linking their cultural content to the economics of the cultural market. He or she often defines the communication of cultural policies, using multimedia as a means of mediating culture. His duties increasingly lead him to work in the private sector.
Function open to École du Louvre students holding the Undergraduate Diploma and above.

General information:

 

Directeur de l'action culturelle

He defines and manages a cultural institution according to its own history and social and economic context. He participates in the development of cultural policy and administers it. He or she directs and coordinates cultural services, and manages national and international (usually European) institutional partnerships.
Function accessible to École du Louvre students holding the Graduate Diploma.

General information:

 

Expert in cultural mediation

He is the specialist in all operations of interpretation and understanding of cultural phenomena and processes. He introduces new practices for a specific audience, in response to a new demand. He works in the private sector.
Function open to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de recherche appliquée.

General information:

 

Guide-conférencier des villes d'art et d'histoire

He is in charge of lecture tours enabling in-depth discovery of a city and region (artistic development, social and economic history). This position is open to École du Louvre students holding a postgraduate diploma and validation of the "guide-conférencier" module

General information:

 

 

Cultural mediator

As an intermediary between the collections on display and different audiences (schoolchildren, professionals, businesses, etc.), he or she is the author of strategies provoking encounters between the object and its audience (exhibitions, conferences, workshops, publishing work). He uses multimedia, knows how to develop information and communication tools, and masters the institutional workings of the public and private sectors. Lastly, he or she must guarantee sources of funding for his or her work.
Function accessible to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de premier cycle.

General information:

 

Museographer

A specialist in the exhibition of works of art, often a decorator or architect, he or she analyzes the nature of material exhibition spaces and their enhancement to serve a new itinerary and the objects presented. This profession is carried out independently in the private sector.
Function open to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de deuxième cycle.

General information:

 

Responsible for audiences

He builds the educational project and defines the policy for promoting the collections to the institution's various audiences. He or she works closely with the communications department.
Function open to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de deuxième cycle.

General information:

At the end of their course, École du Louvre students can move into art market mediation professions.

There are many art market professions for which École du Louvre students are prepared at the end of their university course. Here are just a few examples.

 

Antiquary

Antiquaries, trained as art historians with theoretical knowledge of restoration techniques, are dealers who search for and identify pieces in auction rooms, exhibitions and sometimes private homes that they will then sell. His sense of observation, combined with artistic judgment and a good knowledge of art market players, enables him to assess the value of objects and potential sales channels. Negotiation skills and the ability to speak a foreign language are major assets when advising clients.

General information:

 

 

Auctioneer

This ministerial officer (mandated by the Garde des Sceaux) is responsible for inventorying goods, drafting sales catalogs, estimating and selling, voluntarily or otherwise, movable objects by public auction.
Entrance exam open to École du Louvre students who hold the Diplôme de premier cycle and have a law degree.

General information:

 

 

Courtier

An art dealer, this specialist, an art historian by training, is an expert without a gallery or boutique, who plays the role of intermediary between buyers looking for a piece and sellers. His negotiating skills and fluency in a foreign language are major assets in advising his clients.

 

 

Art Critic

The art critic first and foremost exercises another profession (teacher, journalist or curator, for example).
Additional training available to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de deuxième cycle.

General information:

 

 

Art expert/consultant

He carries out estimates of goods sold by auctioneers or by private individuals and assists, often during sales, the auctioneer. He or she works on a self-employed basis and receives a percentage of sales from the same auctioneers, but also from private individuals, financial companies, insurance companies, foundations, courts or customs.
Additional training available to École du Louvre students holding the Graduate Diploma.

General information:

 

 

Galeriste

He is an art dealer, expert and connoisseur, most often of modern and contemporary art. He identifies and buys works and objects to present them for sale, and organizes monographic and/or thematic exhibitions. He defines the value of objects and pronounces on their authenticity.

General information:

At the end of their course, École du Louvre students can move into careers in information science and libraries.

There are many careers in information science and libraries for which École du Louvre students are prepared at the end of their university course. Here are just a few examples.

 

Librarian

The librarian is responsible for the acquisition and conservation of all books and communication media in libraries. He/she organizes the collection of coherent documentary resources, and mediates between the collections and the public (making books and media available).
Competition open to École du Louvre students holding the Undergraduate Diploma.

General information:

 

Documentary studies manager

The document manager identifies, collects, analyzes and distributes documentary holdings. He/she manages, and sometimes even develops, databases.
He/she is increasingly called upon to use and design multimedia tools.
Competition open to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de deuxième cycle.

General information:

 

Conservateur des bibliothèques

Within the various public archive services and centers, he inventories the archives and classifies them by document type. He/she coordinates the maintenance and restoration of all archival media, and organizes their availability to different audiences, whose reception he/she arranges.
Competition open to École du Louvre students holding the Graduate Diploma.

General information:

 

Documentation secretary for culture and architecture/documentation secretary for national education

The documentation secretary is involved in building up, inventorying, exploiting, managing and distributing documentary collections. On assignment, he or she works in archives, museum documentation departments or cultural institutions.
Competition open to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de premier cycle.

General information:

At the end of their course, École du Louvre students can move into teaching and research professions.

There are many teaching and research professions for which École du Louvre students are prepared at the end of their university course. Here are just a few examples.

 

Archaeologist researcher/art historian researcher

An archaeology or art history researcher is a researcher in the humanities. Based on fieldwork (archaeological excavations involving other disciplines: architecture, botany, chemistry, epigraphy, geology, zoology, etc.), archaeologists develop their own scientific research, which they promote through publications. They work for the French State and local authorities (regional archaeology services, SRA).
An art historian's personal work contributes to fundamental research in one of the fields of art history, focusing on a chronological sequence for a given cultural area.
These activities are carried out in parallel with a wide range of other work: disseminating research findings to doctoral students, scientific direction of research teams and laboratories, administrative duties with research organizations, publications, organizing symposia and taking part in round-table discussions and seminars.
Researchers are increasingly called upon to develop their activities within the framework of international cooperation.
Function accessible to holders of a Postgraduate Diploma, in university co-supervision.

General information:

 

 

Archaeological lecturer (maître de conférences des universités, professeur des universités)

The lecturer teaches certain courses (lectures, tutorials, practical work), while also carrying out his or her own research. 
The lecturer defines the methods for transmitting knowledge, supervises students' research work, advises and guides them. Through their personal work, they promote and develop fundamental research, before disseminating the results to students and national and international research institutions. Increasingly, they are called upon to develop their work within the framework of international cooperation.
Function accessible to holders of a Postgraduate Diploma, in university co-supervision.

General information:

Research and teaching sites in France:

For more information, download the information sheet

Research and teaching locations abroad:

General information:

  • All universities listed by country/region

 

Teacher-researcher art historian (university lecturer, university professor)

The lecturer teaches certain courses (lectures, tutorials, practical work), while carrying out his or her own research. 
The lecturer defines the methods for transmitting knowledge, supervises students' research work, advises and guides them. Through their personal work, they promote and develop fundamental research, before disseminating the results to students and national and international research institutions.
They are increasingly called upon to develop their work within the framework of international cooperation.
Function open to holders of a Postgraduate Diploma, in university co-supervision.

General information:

Research and teaching locations in France:

To find out more, download the information sheet

Locations for research and teaching abroad:

General information:

  • All universities listed by country/region

 

Professeur agrégé d'histoire

Teaches in lycées, classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles, certain training establishments and, exceptionally, collèges.
Competition open to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de deuxième cycle and above.

General information:

 

Professeur certifié d'histoire

Teaches in collèges, lycées and training establishments.
Competition open to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de deuxième cycle (Bulletin Officiel Spécial n° 10, 2001).
Certified history teachers also have the option of taking an exam (30-minute oral) to obtain complementary certification in art history (Bulletin Officiel n° 39 du 28 octobre 2004), certification enabling them to teach art history in secondary schools.

General information:

At the end of their course, École du Louvre students can move into publishing professions.

There are many publishing professions for which École du Louvre students are prepared at the end of their university course. Here are just a few examples.

 

Documentalist

He identifies external sources of information from all media (written, graphic, electronic documents) for a given editorial program (fine books, tourist guides, school books and encyclopedias). They prioritize the content of this information in editorial form. They are often called upon to recruit external collaborators (authors and illustrators, iconographers). He/she negotiates the conditions for purchasing reproduction rights and monitors the documentation and illustration budgets.
Competitions and additional training courses available to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de deuxième cycle.

General training:

 

 

Editeur-directeur éditorial

He designs the publishing house's editorial policy, defining production guidelines (launch of a new collection, etc.). He oversees budgetary choices.
Additional training available to École du Louvre students holding the Graduate Diploma and above.

General information:

 

 

Iconographer

Manages image collections (indexing, archiving, database design) and increasingly often has skills in the actual processing of images (multimedia and digital technology professions).
Additional training available to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de deuxième cycle.

General information:

 

 

Art journalist

The art journalist is a specialist with a very good knowledge of art history and archaeology. They are often experts in a specific field, and use their skills to research a wealth of documentation, extracting information and analyzing it. They work for a specialized publishing house, or for a press group whose dailies and general-interest periodicals include columns devoted to culture. They may be editors (in chief), editorial secretaries or freelancers.
The editor writes books, articles and notices on a subject that he or she may have chosen. He or she is responsible for the editorial line.
The editorial secretary proofreads and corrects, reworks titles and headings, selects iconography, writes captions and monitors production deadlines.
The freelancer works on an ad hoc basis, according to the needs of the editor. They are usually paid by the number of words.

General information:

 

 

Reader-Corrector

He checks the text against the typographical code. He corrects spelling and grammar. They may also point out inconsistencies in content. They often prepare manuscripts, draw up index tables and check bibliographies. He or she is generally self-employed and does not work within the publishing house
Additional training available to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de premier cycle.

General information:

 

 

Publishing manager

The publishing manager creates an editorial program and monitors its execution. He or she seeks out authors, participates in the choice of texts and illustrations, coordinates the work of publishing secretaries, and sets the budget for which he or she is responsible.
Additional training available to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de deuxième cycle.

General information:

 

 

Publishing secretary

The scope of his/her work varies according to the size and organization of the publishing house. At the heart of his or her mission is the preparation and control of the copy, i.e. the layout of the manuscript for the layout artist, then the rereading of the various sets of proofs. He may also oversee production and coordinate the various subcontractors. He or she is responsible for finalizing texts and coordinating the various parties involved: editors, proofreaders, iconographers, illustrators, layout artists, etc.
Additional training available to École du Louvre students holding the Undergraduate Diploma.

General information:

 

 

Editorial webmaster

The editorial webmaster is highly specialized in his or her field, and is the guarantor of a site's editorial line. The job has more to do with site content than with the hardware and software used to implement it. But the editorial webmaster must remain versatile: he/she conceives, writes, structures, validates and prioritizes information; he/she develops a policy of documentary monitoring and site updating. They define the aesthetic framework of the site, so as to make visible and legible the political and cultural strategy of their institution or company.
Involved in almost every phase of site creation, they also master programming languages (ASP, HTML, JavaScript, PHP...) and computer graphics tools (Photoshop, Fireworks, Illustrator...).
This profession, which is in the process of being structured, benefits from numerous training courses from undergraduate to postgraduate level, but with very uneven content. To become an editorial webmaster, post-graduate studies in Art History and Archaeology, or Literature, combined with training in programming languages, are good assets.
Additional training is available to École du Louvre students holding the Diplôme de deuxième cycle.