https://www.bayburtpostasi.com.tr/kultur-sanat/avrupa-2021-silletto-odulu-kenan-yavuz-etnografiya-muzesi-nin-h20195.html

Bayburt Post – Kenan Yavuz Ethnography Museum, established in the Beşpınar village of Bayburt, was a finalist in the “European Museum of the Year Award” (EMYA) competition held every year by the European Museum Forum (EMF), which determines the most prestigious museums in the world. The competition concluded today. Kenan Yavuz Ethnography Museum was deemed worthy of the “2021 Silletto Award” in the competition where 90 museums competed and 27 museums made it to the finals.

EMF/EMYA, which was established in 1977 under the auspices of the Council of Europe, to develop museology, to contribute to, promote and encourage its institutional and professional structures, and to make unique museums visible, will make the Kenan Yavuz Ethnography Museum, which brings a new approach to ethnographic museology, the next year of Europe in 2021. showed up among the best. The success of the Kenan Yavuz Ethnography Museum, which brought Turkey a prestigious award in the international arena, was announced by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism with expressions full of praise and joy. In the statement made by the Ministry, it was said, “A wonderful night for Turkish Museology at the European Museum of the Year Awards… Bayburt Kenan Yavuz Ethnography Museum also received the “2021 Silleto Award”. Candidates participated in the final night, where 27 museums competed, using the video conference method. Kenan Yavuz, the founder of the museum, experienced the happiness of being deemed worthy of the “2021 Silletto Award” with his wife Sibel Yavuz and son Furkan Yavuz.

In a statement to our newspaper, the founder of the museum, Kenan Yavuz, stated that he was honored to be deemed worthy of one of the most prestigious awards in Europe, and said, “I am honored that our museum, which we created in a short time by feeding our traditional culture codes, was deemed worthy of such an important award. It was a proud and encouraging development for us that the museum, which we established in the ancient land of Bayburt, in my village where I was born and grew up, with the aim of carrying the forgotten beauties of Anatolia to the present and the future, was crowned with such a valuable award in the international arena. Our museum has become a place that brings our values that are on the verge of disappearing to life, bringing them back to life, transferring them to the future and bringing them together with historical heritage. We are proud that our claim to be a unique museum in the world in a time-space relationship has been evaluated as the best in such a prestigious process.” Yavuz said, “I would like to express my gratitude to our Governor of Bayburt, Mr. Cüneyt Epcim, our Mayors, members of the board of directors and advisory board, and of course, to the people of Bayburt, especially my wife Sibel Yavuz and my family, and to my compatriots in Beşpınar village, who contributed to our success. Bringing this beauty to our country has been a great source of pride for us,” he said. Kenan Yavuz Ethnography Museum was established by businessman Kenan Yavuz in the Beşpınar village of Bayburt, where he was born and raised, on a total area of 15000 square meters, 4500 square meters of which is closed and 10,500 square meters of which is open space. The museum, which served as a Culture House between 2013-2019, completed its development to a large extent and gained the status of “Official Private Museum” in 2019. Despite the global epidemic, the museum was visited by 12 thousand visitors in the summer of 2020.

EXPERIENCE-BASED CULTURAL TOURISM Kenan Yavuz, who emphasized that their aim is to realize a transformation in museology and to bring the socio-cultural life to the center, with a structure that the visitors can touch within the museum, stated that they have organized many events in this context so far. Saying that they plan to open the boutique hotel “Loru Han” project, which they built in an integrated manner with the museum, in June 2021, Yavuz underlined that they will have the opportunity to host travelers from far places and introduce the culture of Bayburt, thanks to the accommodation facility where the culture and historical texture of the region will be experienced. Yavuz said, “We will systematically bring our visitors together with activities through our museum and accommodation facility. We aim to be at the service of our cultural world in a creative and continuous improvement process by assimilating the experience-based cultural tourism understanding that gained importance after the pandemic.

We adopt an understanding of museology that centers, touches and makes the “human” swallowed by modern life and concretization.” THE PLACE WHERE THE STONES TALK Kenan Yavuz, who mentioned that ethnography museums generally serve in the form of exhibiting ethnographic works in modern structures, said that they also built the spaces that make up the museum ethnographically. Expressing that they built 26 different places with 3000 tons of stone and wood materials collected from the ruined houses of the villages, Yavuz said, “We also took a stance against bad construction with the architectural structuring that reflects the identity of our region.” COMING TO US LIVES Kenan Yavuz, who stated that every corner of Anatolia is a different beauty, and concluded his words with the following words: “What comes to us lives us”.