The role of museums in reflecting urban identity: Examples from Thessaloniki museums

Museums are not only the areas where the past is cumulatively displayed, but also are multi-faceted areas of achievement that link the past to the present and use this bond to shape the future. The museums in which tangible and intangible cultural heritages take place also reflect the common memory of the community. When museums are designed as memory spaces, they are expected to transfer the memory of the space as well. The cities in which the masses of human communities, which reflect their own characteristics to the areas they live in, continue to exist as multicultural and polyphonic environments. The museums in the cities have often been obliged to reflect this culture and urban identity, which has been formed in a common way. The values represented by the museum also exist outside the place where they are located. For this reason, today's museums aim not only to maintain their presence in the limited space defined in themselves but to explore a wider spatial narrative by flexing these areas. In this way, museums are undertaking a mission to reflect not only society's identity but also the identity of the living spaces shaped by society. Along with Postmodernism, the emphasis on cultural diversity and variety in the cities and the realization of city studies with a pluralistic perspective influenced the elaboration of the museums' functions which are reflecting the cultural identity of the city. Within the scope of the research, the concept of urbanism and urban identity and the effects of the museums on reflecting the urban identity have been examined. The findings were addressed through six museums in Thessaloniki, which are Ataturk's House Museum, Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, Museum of Byzantine Culture, White Tower Museum, Museum for the Macedonian Struggle and Jewish Museum Thessaloniki, examining their missions and visions, exhibitions and educational programs. Keywords: urban identity, museum, memory, multiculturalism, Thessaloniki.