Crafting exceptionality. Notre Dame de Paris: Between materiality and sacrality

Abstract

On the Notre-Dame de Paris restoration site, objects and materials are the focus of contrasting attentions. While thedebris of the framework and the vault are examined and preserved as vestiges, the materials destined for Notre-Dame are prepared to be invested with the sacredness of the building. These different ways of thinking about the materiality of the monument and of putting it into memorial and narrative frames contribute to craft the exceptionality of Notre-Dame. They organize an ongoing investigation, based on a collaborative and visual ethnography, questioning the co-construction of authenticity, between patrimonial and religion practices.