Museum activities during and after the covid-19 pandemic

Many events or developments in the history of humanity have changed the course of history and caused periods where "nothing is as before" Global epidemics called pandemics are also one of these events In addition to many of its counterparts in history, the World Health Organization (WHO), was declared as a global pandemic in 2020, the disease called Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) which was caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, that affects the entire world, causing the infection of millions of people and the death of hundreds of thousands of people all over the world Under the measures taken against this global epidemic, governments have temporarily closed public spaces such as schools, libraries, cinemas, theaters, restaurants, cafes and museums and declared a curfew Especially museums are at the top of the institutions that are most affected by this process When we look at this area, it is seen that both the museum industry and museum employees are seri-ously affected by economic, psychological, social and cultural aspects It is understood that these effects will be seen in the next period as well as the current process that is being experienced While the pandemic is glob-alizing, taking new measures and maintaining news networks at the global level, creating new opportunities and causing global solutions can be read as the results of this process When we look at UNESCO's efforts, especially in the cultural and educational sectors, it is possible to see the understanding that the crisis that is being experienced should be turned into an opportunity and the efforts created around it The International Council of Museums (ICOM), which is the most important representative of museum studies worldwide, by adopting the motto "Museums have no borders, they have a network" was established in Paris in 1946 with the initiative of UNESCO This institution increases public cultural awareness through global networks and cooperation pro-grams, which develop according to the needs of museums Studies based on developments in the field of mus-eology or possible in the future during and after the pandemic have been also affected to the museology studies carried out by ICOM These studies, which are carried out on an international scale, based on the research, safeguarding, continuity and communication of the world's natural, tangible and intangible cultural heritage today and in the future, have changed due to the quarantine applied in the pandemic process and has become a technology-oriented one Museology studies are one of the areas affected by these changes, which are also mandatory We can say that this process deepens the importance and necessity of this heritage as well as the problems that may arise within the context of intangible cultural heritage museum This situation, which has been summarized by Ernesto Ottone, UNESCO Deputy Director General for Culture, with the words “A world without culture is a world without future” emphasized the importance of the transmission of intangible cultural heritage In this article, how the pandemic was affected museology studies;what kind of studies ICOM has done when it was necessary to close the doors of museums in the international arena;how the museology studies have changed and would be changing in the process called “new normal” and after the pandemic, was presented and a general evaluation was made through the official web pages, social media shares, webinars organized with subject matter experts and conferences of the efforts of ICOM, museums, Ankara ICH Museum, universities and non-governmental organizations working in the field of museology © 2020, Milli Folklor Dergisi All rights reserved