Horniman Museum, London
The Horniman Museum regularly stages exhibitions showcasing research undertaken by its staff. The latest, Utsavam: Music from India (Utsavam is Sanskrit for festivities or celebrations), is the product of fieldwork in India, funded jointly by the Horniman Museum and the British Library Sound Archive (BLSA).
For over a decade, the BLSA has run the Traditional Music Project, which aims to record, document and research recorded musical traditions in India. This research project concentrated on the less well-documented folk, devotional and ritual music in rural districts, rather than the north and south Indian classical styles.
Utsavam, jointly curated by Margaret Birley, the keeper of musical instruments at the Horniman Museum, and Rolf Killius, an ethnomusicologist and broadcaster working with the BLSA, displays more than 300 musical instruments and numerous videos of music and dance performances from various parts of India, recorded over the past five years.
The exhibition focuses on the incredible diversity of music practised by five specific musical groups in five different areas of India: the temple musicians and priests of rural Kerala in the south, the singers and storytellers from the Punjab, the musician farmers of the villages of the Sora group (in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh), the fishermen and farmers on the river island of Majuli in Assam, in the great Brahmaputra river, and the communities in the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh on the border with China.
Disappearing heritage
India lives its life to music - births, marriages, festivals, deaths and other rituals are all accompanied by appropriate music. But the past 15 years have seen enormous social and economic changes in this vast country and the pace of change is relentless.
Young people are abandoning life in the rural areas for a better-paid future in the cities, and over the next decade, some of this music and these instruments will disappear forever, as the musical-instrument makers retire without being able to hand down their skills to the next generation.
This exhibition is about people and their music, told through video footage, sound recordings and the instruments. Musical instruments in a case can make for a dull display, but many of those on display - some from the Horniman's historic collections and some that were collected or commissioned during the recent research project - are beautiful objects in their own right. The instruments have a character of their own.
The opening video shows the making of a milavu drum, and its blessing, first by a priest and then by a drummer. It's strangely moving, and highlights the symbiotic link between the musician and his instrument.
The exhibition design, by Objectives, is very colourful, reflecting the vibrant colours of India. Initially, it's somewhat confusing, as there appears to be no obvious route, but instead you're presented with a series of choices: to watch videos in the cinema space, to move through the geographic areas or to follow themes exploring the early collectors and the materials used to make the instruments.
But this lack of direction hardly matters, as you are led through the exhibition by your ears rather than by your eyes. Each geographic area has a video point with a "sound tube", a sort of sound umbrella that is positioned over the space to limit the amount of sound that bleeds into other areas of the exhibition.
Using the wealth of photos, videos and audio recordings, each section illustrates the geographical, social and cultural environments of musicians. The films are fascinating, with subtitles describing each instrument, and the dances are engaging.
The graphics are excellent: bold, bright, well-designed and informative, with maps and specially taken photographs. You don't have to be musically minded to appreciate this exhibition, and care is taken to explain the tripartite nature of music in India, the three main sources being the drums, the drone and the melody.
Nor are visitors restricted to just listening and looking; there is a pair of robust stone drums at the right height for children and adults to play together, as well as a quiet area with books and videos.
An events programme has also been developed around Utsavam, working with London-based Asian arts organisations such as Raj Academy and Darbar and featuring UK sitar and tabla artists. The only missing thing is the CD - hopefully the BLSA will produce one in due course.
Jane Weeks is a museum consultant
The Horniman Museum regularly stages exhibitions showcasing research undertaken by its staff. The latest, Utsavam: Music from India (Utsavam is Sanskrit for festivities or celebrations), is the product of fieldwork in India, funded jointly by the Horniman Museum and the British Library Sound Archive (BLSA).
For over a decade, the BLSA has run the Traditional Music Project, which aims to record, document and research recorded musical traditions in India. This research project concentrated on the less well-documented folk, devotional and ritual music in rural districts, rather than the north and south Indian classical styles.
Utsavam, jointly curated by Margaret Birley, the keeper of musical instruments at the Horniman Museum, and Rolf Killius, an ethnomusicologist and broadcaster working with the BLSA, displays more than 300 musical instruments and numerous videos of music and dance performances from various parts of India, recorded over the past five years.
The exhibition focuses on the incredible diversity of music practised by five specific musical groups in five different areas of India: the temple musicians and priests of rural Kerala in the south, the singers and storytellers from the Punjab, the musician farmers of the villages of the Sora group (in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh), the fishermen and farmers on the river island of Majuli in Assam, in the great Brahmaputra river, and the communities in the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh on the border with China.
Disappearing heritage
India lives its life to music - births, marriages, festivals, deaths and other rituals are all accompanied by appropriate music. But the past 15 years have seen enormous social and economic changes in this vast country and the pace of change is relentless.
Young people are abandoning life in the rural areas for a better-paid future in the cities, and over the next decade, some of this music and these instruments will disappear forever, as the musical-instrument makers retire without being able to hand down their skills to the next generation.
This exhibition is about people and their music, told through video footage, sound recordings and the instruments. Musical instruments in a case can make for a dull display, but many of those on display - some from the Horniman's historic collections and some that were collected or commissioned during the recent research project - are beautiful objects in their own right. The instruments have a character of their own.
The opening video shows the making of a milavu drum, and its blessing, first by a priest and then by a drummer. It's strangely moving, and highlights the symbiotic link between the musician and his instrument.
The exhibition design, by Objectives, is very colourful, reflecting the vibrant colours of India. Initially, it's somewhat confusing, as there appears to be no obvious route, but instead you're presented with a series of choices: to watch videos in the cinema space, to move through the geographic areas or to follow themes exploring the early collectors and the materials used to make the instruments.
But this lack of direction hardly matters, as you are led through the exhibition by your ears rather than by your eyes. Each geographic area has a video point with a "sound tube", a sort of sound umbrella that is positioned over the space to limit the amount of sound that bleeds into other areas of the exhibition.
Using the wealth of photos, videos and audio recordings, each section illustrates the geographical, social and cultural environments of musicians. The films are fascinating, with subtitles describing each instrument, and the dances are engaging.
The graphics are excellent: bold, bright, well-designed and informative, with maps and specially taken photographs. You don't have to be musically minded to appreciate this exhibition, and care is taken to explain the tripartite nature of music in India, the three main sources being the drums, the drone and the melody.
Nor are visitors restricted to just listening and looking; there is a pair of robust stone drums at the right height for children and adults to play together, as well as a quiet area with books and videos.
An events programme has also been developed around Utsavam, working with London-based Asian arts organisations such as Raj Academy and Darbar and featuring UK sitar and tabla artists. The only missing thing is the CD - hopefully the BLSA will produce one in due course.
Jane Weeks is a museum consultant
Project data
Cost: £252,000
Funder: Renaissance in the Regions
Curators: Margaret Birley, Rolf Killius
Exhibition design: Neill Richardson, Objectives
Graphic design: Matt Bigg
Contractor: Mark II
Audiovisual: Spiral Productions
Exhibition ends: 2 November
Cost: £252,000
Funder: Renaissance in the Regions
Curators: Margaret Birley, Rolf Killius
Exhibition design: Neill Richardson, Objectives
Graphic design: Matt Bigg
Contractor: Mark II
Audiovisual: Spiral Productions
Exhibition ends: 2 November
