International Museum Day has been organized annually by the International Council of Museums since 1977. The International Council of Museums is an international organization of museums and museum professionals dedicated to the study, preservation, maintenance, and communication of the world's natural and cultural heritage, both concretely and intangibly, today and in the future [1].
The purpose of the International Day of Museums (IMD) is to raise awareness of the fact that "Museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and promoting mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples". Museum Day, which was first celebrated 40 years ago, is celebrated every year on May 18 for a day or a week [2].
The International Council of Museums (ICOM) is constantly working to examine the definition of museums and to create a more up-to-date definition. Stating that the functions of museums have also been transformed in societies whose lifestyles are changing rapidly and in various ways, ICOM has made a new alternative museum definition instead of the current museum definition by putting its proposal to the vote at the Extraordinary General Assembly held at the Kyoto International Conference Center in Japan on September 7, 2019. The current definition of museums is as follows [3]:
“Museums create democratizing, inclusive, and polyphonic spaces for critical dialogue about the past and the future. By acknowledging and addressing today's conflicts and challenges, they house artifacts and examples that trust society, preserve diverse memories for future generations, and guarantee equal rights and equal access to heritage for all people.”
This definition is a definition that foresees the function of museums, which had to close their doors around the world since April 2020, with the Pandemic. Regarding this process, Suay Aksoy, former President of ICOM Turkey, said, "We are fully aware of the determination of museum professionals to overcome the challenges brought by the COVID-19 epidemic and we are confident in this regard, but the museum space cannot stand alone without the support of the public and private sectors. Collecting emergency funds. and it is imperative to implement policies to protect professionals and self-employed workers in precarious contracts.
A New Breath to the Understanding of Museology "Virtual Museum Tours"
Responsible for Istanbul Gelisim University Faculty of Fine Arts Virtual Exhibition Platform, Res. See. Büşra Kamacıoğlu also expressed her thoughts:
“With the global epidemic, it is a very sad situation that museums cannot physically fulfill their functions and that the assurances of self-employed workers are shaken. Along with the pandemic process, there has been a digital transformation in every field due to the conditions; They have transformed their exhibitions into the format of "virtual museum tours" to maintain their existence in the field of museology and to serve their purposes. This situation has brought a new breath to today's museum understanding. The fact that museums can be visited 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from different geographies provides uninterrupted access to all individuals. As Mr. Aksoy [3] said: “Paradoxically, museums have never been this accessible before, even with their doors closed.”
In our country, especially in the year 2021, many museums have created virtual museum tours. Anyone fond of history, culture, and art can find the opportunity to see many cultural and artistic works in the virtual environment at the address virtualmuze.gov.tr. Within the scope of the possibilities offered by virtual exhibitions, the exhibited works can be viewed by zooming in, and information about the history of the exhibited works and places can be accessed.
Kamacıoğlu continued her words as follows:
“Istanbul Gelisim University also created the IGU Virtual Exhibition Platform through the Faculty of Fine Arts in this process. There are a total of 19 exhibitions currently live on this platform. The exhibitions consist of student works made within the scope of the course and included in various projects. In addition, within the scope of DesignFest'21, the exhibition of an important artist such as Gürbüz Doğan Ekşioğlu, titled “Attention to Corona”, was published. In this respect, our students are very lucky.”
