The art event ‘Memory from the Steppe to the World’ took place at the Kenan Yavuz Ethnography Museum.

Kenan Yavuz Ethnography Museum, the first Turkish Museum to win the two most important awards in the world in the field of cultural heritage by carrying the ancient culture of Anatolia to a universal scale with a corporate perspective, hosted the project ‘Memory from the Steppe to the World.’ Board Member of the Museum, Furkan Yavuz, expressed great pleasure in hosting the project ‘Memory from the Steppe to the World,’ prepared by photographer and writer Melissa Mey and Pianist Composer Emre Nurbeyler, accompanied by Violinist Assoc. Prof. Bahar Buyukgonenc. He emphasized the importance of reminding, refreshing, and making our social memory visible through factual actions and contemporary tools. The ‘memory’ project consisting of 8 photographs and eight compositions made for each of them suited our museum very well. Because Bayburt played an important role in the Turkification of Anatolian lands and became an ancient homeland of the Akkoyunlu, Seljuk, and Ottoman civilizations. The ‘Swallow Ceiling’ used in the architectural texture of Bayburt houses consists of 8 layers and symbolizes the principles of ‘compassion, kindness, patience, honesty, keeping secrets, loyalty, generosity, and gratitude’ of the Seljuk Civilization. The eight photographs in the project were selected inspired by the swallow ceiling tradition we maintain. As a museum established in the Anatolian steppe, we continue to carry our cultural codes into the future.” Photographer Melissa Mey stated, “Our project started when Emre Nurbeyler wanted to compose music based on my photos last year. The sorrow I experienced when my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in the same months allowed me to look at life from a different perspective. Forgetting past experiences means ‘individual’ as well as ‘social dementia’ and its consequences are so destructive that they cannot be compensated. Museums, which are the pillars of our social memory, are the most effective remedy against this threat. Our project, established with the aim of carrying our beautiful values that should not be forgotten to the future and which has made a name for itself in the world, is very precious to me to be realized in this museum.” Pianist and composer Emre Nurbeyler said, “I reflected the spirit represented by Melissa’s multi-layered photographs in my compositions. Memories are our most valuable accumulations that make us exist. Especially, we cannot allow the values that enrich our cultural heritage to be forgotten. We must pass on our values as a legacy to the world of the future.” Violinist Assoc. Prof. Bahar Buyukgonenc stated, “Museums are the strongest link to existence reaching back to roots. I accompanied the eight photographs and each composition made with my violin. I am proud to be part of such a project in a museum that tries to keep alive the memory of our Anatolia in the middle of the steppe. Kenan Yavuz Ethnography Museum, which brings together time with space, preserves, keeps alive, and connects to its roots, is like a living form of our social memory.”