Şavşat-Tepeköy Traditional Living Culture Museum

The concept of museums has developed within the framework of certain principles throughout the historical process. These principles appear concretely in the functions of museums. It is basically based on the principle of protection to transfer the past to the future. Artworks that mirror the past have created museum types that differ from each other. In this study, Şavşat-Tepeköy Traditional Life Culture Museum, which can be considered as an ethnography museum in terms of the works it contains, located in Tepeköy Village of Şavşat District of Artvin Province in the Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey, is introduced and the abstract and concrete values of the region are highlighted in the light of the works exhibited in the museum. The museum was founded by the Artvin Living Education and Culture Association (Ayek-Der) to introduce national cultural elements and prevent them from being forgotten. The establishment of the museum was supported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Department of Associations, Şavşat District Governorship, Tepeköy Mukhtar's Office, the people of Tepeköy region and Tepeköy associations. Although not affiliated with the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums, work began in 2014 to provide the museum function with the permission of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and it was opened to visitors in 2015. The museum, which attracts highly attention in the region, is an important example in terms of reflecting the past and ongoing traditional life cultures of the region in the best way with the rich variety of works exhibited. The museum distinguishes the works according to their areas of use and in accordance with this approach; the works were introduced by classifying them according to their areas of use. First, the museum was evaluated with the data obtained within its own framework. Afterwards, the museum was compared and evaluated with other similar museums in the surrounding areas. As a result of these, a conclusion section was prepared in the light of the cultural values intended to be highlighted. The study was completed by making several suggestions to the museum, which is already an example in many aspects, to reach a better version. The aim of this study is to set an example for the establishment of similar museums and to be a resource for similar studies to be carried out in this field.