“The city museum and its values” discussed at CIU

Assist. Prof. Dr. Nezire Özgec and Assist. Prof. Dr. Yasemin Mesda from the Department of Architecture of Cyprus International University (CIU) Faculty of Fine Arts, Design and Architecture (FFADA) organized a seminar on "City Museum and Its Values", where the concept of city museum and the concept of contemporary museum were examined taking Famagusta City Museum as the example to explicate these concepts.

In the seminar held within the scope of the project "Famagusta City Museum" assigned in the   ARCH401 Architectural Design - V course and supervised by Özgece and Mesda during the Fall Term of 2022-2023 Academic Year, architect-academic and the Famagusta City Museum Initiative Activist Prof. Dr. Uğur Ulaş Dağlı made a presentation.

In her speech, Dağlı talked about the intersection of life experiences in her personal and professional life journey and conveyed her experiences in Nicosia, Istanbul and Famagusta as the three cities that left their mark on her journey.

In her speech, Dağlı drew attention to the contribution of the unique structures of these cities that had their own identity, and to issues such as urban culture, urban memory, and urban consciousness. She also explained how these contributed to the formation of the idea of a city museum.

Dağlı, who has been working on the Famagusta City Museum for many years, was the recipient of a 2-month long EU scholarship, that enabled her to carry out a museum research study in London in 2019. She conveyed to the audience her experiences related to her study and the prominent features of contemporary museums exploiting those in London as examples.

Dağlı noted the aspects where the concept of city museum differs from the concept of contemporary museum, the prominent functions of city museums, and how the city museum could become a part of the city. In order to enlighten the students working on the project “Famagusta City Museum,” she shared in detail the spatial setups of city museums as well as technical information and visual examples about the exhibition areas which comprise the main spaces in museums.  

Noting how important the city museum is in the life, development and sometimes revival of a city, Dağlı said, “Museums are the birth place of cities.” At the end of the event, Acting Dean of the  FFADA and Acting Chair of Department of Architecture Assist. Prof. Dr. Sertaç İlter presented a certificate of appreciation to Dağlı.