Leaving a Mark in Emptiness: The Baksi Museum

A savannah that no man passes by, the extraordinary rhythm of the meanders of the river Çoruh flowing before it and the continuous change in light of the Soğanli Mountains extended across from it… A simple desire of leaving a mark on that hill surfaces within you. Then, in the year 2000, the first excavation activities begin and an intense construction work is undertaken for the next five years. At last, the main building is erected in the midst of the savannah and later the Depo Museum. Then comes the opening of workshops for women to become more involved in social life. A library of more than 10 thousand books is established. Guesthouses are soon built. As a result, the dreams of building a small village townhouse turns into a massive social complex with its exhibition halls, Depo Museum, workshops, guesthouses, library and conference hall established over a 40 decare land. Artist Donations The encouraging contributions increase over the years, and its current state is attained through many supporting awards. Baksi, on its 10th anniversary of transforming into reality from a dream today, continues to replenish the hopes within the lives in the area as well as in the world of culture and art. Baksi, just like life itself, unites the traditional with the modern, the old with new, the rural with urban, nature with industry,
artisanship with art under the same roof and presents it to its audience.

The museum is never short of visitors during every day of the week. You may even come across visitors who insist on a tour after working hours (18.00) and some even during Monday when it is normally closed. The Baksi Museum also makes a difference with its collections as well as its style in exhibiting these collections. The modern arts collection of the Museum consists of 200 pieces of art collected from more than 160 artists. This collection, which consists of various paintings, ceramic, sculpture, installation and video artworks by the most prominent artists of Turkey, also includes the products of designers. The clothing designs of famous fashion designers are also displayed at the museum. From the Universe to the Healing Bowl It includes glass bottom paintings, lithography, engrainings, embroidery works reflect the richness of the community’s art tradition. Another collection at the museum is on ethnographic objects. The majority of this
collection includes toga embroidery, terra cotta and metal objects. The jugs made for the purposes of preserving wheat, carry food or use as a stove takes us on a journey into history with its form and adornments. The metal samples consist yaşanmostly of objects of religious origins. The many healing bowls, measurement scales gathered from the region emphasise the variety in metal workmanship and form perception. Baksi gives importance to refictionalise its collections as a museum, and gives the same level of importance to adhere to its own concept. In this regard, putting all academic differences aside, it gives importance to exhibiting art and crastmanship together in the same environment while drawing attention to creativity.

Thus, a form of dialogue is established between the art and the craftsmanship. Children’s Favourite Baksi has a completely different meaning for the children of the region. In fact, it was the children that had shown most of the support during the establishment of the musuem. The children, in fact, are at the top of the target list of the museum. The Baksi Childrens Art Festival, which has been undertaken this year for the third time, is the best possible manner of expression of this fact. Every year, 15 children receive art scholarships as a part of this festival and their works are exhibited within the museum. For instance, if you ever decide to visit the museum during this period, you may be able to see the sculpture of a child, who has earned a scholarship, in place of the Miro sculpture that was standing in its very place last year. This is one of the sweetest surprises at the museum. Do not worry though, you come across other surprises during your tour of the museum.

The orchards in the garden of the museum, the magnificent landscape of the Çoruh Valley; and these are only a few of the many things from different cultures uniting under the single roof. These are differences that you will never see in another museum. The toga, rug and ceramic workshops have been established to contribute economically to the lives of the women. Baksi has already began to work on a new employment project in which 200 women will work in central Bayburt for the purposes of meeting the demands and to ensure to expand the borders of production beyond
the museum walls. This project intends to ensure the effective contributions of women in society. “It has nothing like its kind in the world” (Professor Hüsamettin Koçan) “Another important feature of our museum is that our artists unconditionally show their support with their donations. There is no other museum like its kind in the world in which the collections are formed by the donations of the artists. Once we add the projects for the children of the region too, we should not be surprised about the interest in Baksi.” 10 From Dream to Reality! The Baksi Museum is celebrating its 10th anniversary with various activities and new projects. “The TEN Exhibition”,
which will be held until May 2016, draws attention with its rich anthology that has established a dialogue between art and craftsmanship. Furthermore, the meeting of Communicating the Museum that will be held between 8-13 September 2015, has become prominent with its headlines crowning and acknowledging the 10th anniversary of the Baksi Museum.