CIMCIM

ICOM INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR MUSEUMS AND COLLECTIONS OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

An extensive cultural program has been planned for this CIMCIM meeting to complement the paper sessions.  In addition to visiting the collections of the organizing institutions, events include visits to the private collection of musical instruments and The Mirek Russian Accordion Museum in Moscow, Bruntsev’s private collection of musical instruments of the world in St. Petersburg (collection of zithers), and such famous museums as The Kunstkamera, Military-Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineer and Signal Corps and others. On the final day all of the registered participants will attend the Gala Concert of the XV Tchaikovsky International Competition.

Most museums of musical instruments and music strive to help their visitors understand how the objects in their collections function and fit into broader musical, cultural and artistic contexts. Performers and performance often play a vital role in this process. Instruments that were once owned by famous performers are often prized by museums and public alike. Relationships with performers present museums with great potential and challenges. Performance can help visitors access traditional musical culture and develop an understanding of and an appreciation for instruments of traditional music, which are often collected according to different criteria than instruments from art music traditions. Collecting and playing instruments from changing or vanished performance practice and cultural traditions can help to promote understanding and preservation of these traditions. In selecting papers for this conference, preference will be given to presentations exploring the intersections between museums, performers and performance.

The committee is particularly keen to encourage engagement with this topic as it applies to instruments and music from around the world. Papers can address, but are not limited to the topics below:

• The role of performance in museums
• How to incorporate performance into the interpretation of museum objects
• Representing performance in museums; the use of recordings, film, IT
• Collecting instruments from performers
• Working with performers in a museum context: curatorial/conservation challenges and solutions
• Museums in performance spaces; museums as performance spaces
• Performance as a tool for sparking visitor interest in unfamiliar instruments and cultures
• The role of performance in museum education and outreach
• Relationships between museums and performing arts organizations
• Museum collections of musical instruments as a resource in the preservation and renaissance of arts considered as national heritage.
• Reconstruction, rendering and modern interpretation of musical instruments – archaeological relics
• Collections of musical instruments and their connection to other collections preserving arts considered as national heritage (documental, audio and video archives, iconography etc.).

Further details, itinerary and registration information can be found on the conference website: 

cimcimrussia.com/main/cimcim/

ORGANIZERS

• CIMCIM

• Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation

• Glinka National Museum of Musical Culture (Moscow)

• St. Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music (St. Petersburg)

• Russian National Committee of ICOM

FURTHER INFORMATION

Please contact Nataliya Emelina, Glinka National Museum, Moscow: emelina.ns@gmail.com

More information: http://cimcim.icom.museum