Music as a mirror of cultures

An interesting exhibition at Prague’s Music Museum

No human society exists without music. The Bach oratorio, however, sounds very different from the songs of the North American Indians, and these are not in the least similar to the music in Chinese tea houses. Why is that? The Czech Museum of Music in Prague is trying to give an answer through the Muzika Etnika exhibition that runs until November 2, 2008.

By presenting groups of instruments from seven cultural regions in four continents the exhibition is trying to show that music is formed by the same set of rules as an entire mother culture. Each of these groups is presented through a kind of window where visitors can look into, discover a culture and take note of some of its distinctive characteristics reflected in its music.

The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive program concerts, workshops, lectures and film projections.