Bayburt’s museums attract more visitors than city's population

BAYBURT

The internationally award-winning Baksı Museum and the Kenan Yavuz Ethnography Museum, which have boosted tourism in Bayburt, Türkiye’s smallest province by population, have witnessed a busy season.

Baksı Museum, founded by painter and academic Professor Hüsamettin Koçan on a hill overlooking the Çoruh Valley in Bayraktar village, 45 kilometers from the city center, opened its doors in 2010.

The museum, which won the European Council Museum Award and the Turkish Grand National Assembly Honor Award in 2014, is known for its unique exhibitions both in Türkiye and abroad, while also conducting research to preserve traditional culture for future generations.

Businessman Kenan Yavuz established a cultural house in 2013 in Beşpınar village in Demirözü, where he was born and raised. The venue, which served as a cultural house for six years, gained the “official private museum” status in 2019.

In 2021, the museum won the "2021 Silletto Prize" at the "European Museum of the Year Awards" organized annually by the European Museum Forum. Additionally, it was awarded the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s 2022 Special Award for its unique contributions to experience tourism.

The two museums that contribute to the promotion of Bayburt, which has a population of some 86,000, hosted about 90,000 visitors between May 1 and Oct. 15, when the season began.

Koçan said that they hosted important artists from Türkiye and around the world at the museum this year during their activities.

He explained that the workshops organized as part of the “Utopia Workshops” created an extraordinary learning environment at the museum, and his "Once Upon a Time" exhibition and "Meetings on the River" program drew significant attention.

Noting that it was a very important year for them, Koçan said: “I find it very important for Bayburt as well because these events are reflected in international media and media outlets in Türkiye. Bayburt has now become a cultural city. We, along with Kenan Yavuz Ethnography Museum, are inviting intellectuals here. Bayburt is now known in Istanbul as a city of culture and museums. I believe Bayburt has a very important future.”

Pointing out that next season is already fully booked, Koçan said:

“We will close the museum in November due to restoration work. However, there is a lot of demand for November. If Kenan Yavuz Ethnography Museum is open, we will send visitors there. Next year, we will start open-air cinema in the amphitheater, showing films that have not been released yet. These attract more public interest, so we will increase concerts, do open-air cinema and it will grow even more.”

Koçan said they had hosted around 40,000 visitors before the season ended, noting that university students from surrounding provinces frequently visit the museum and want to be close to it.

Describing the museum as a “center for nurturing the next generation,” Koçan said: “My initial dream was that we should be at 100,000 visitors by now. This will happen. I'm 78 years old, and I feel my time is running out, but I will work here during the winter and produce. We need time for this. The whole issue is to make good decisions with good intentions, protect our nature and culture without saying 'it’s this or that,' and create hope for the future.”

Reaching 50,000 visitors

Yavuz said they are a very unique museum that brings a cultural and experiential tourism perspective to Türkiye's sustainable tourism approach.

Emphasizing that they are carrying out a very important mission, Yavuz expressed: “We need to highlight the beauties of every corner of Anatolia and make these beauties visible with our essence, aesthetic understanding, culture and way of life. This year, we hosted tens of thousands of visitors here but more importantly, we started receiving very important tours to add value to cultural and experience tourism and activate it.”

Yavuz stated that people from all over Türkiye are coming to the museum with tours and said: ”We share the beauties here with them. Although the season has not yet ended, we have already reached 50,000 visitors. Especially in autumn, we are facing intense interest from universities, high schools, and primary schools. I expect this number to increase by the end of the season.”