The exhibition, timed to coincide with the125th anniversary of composer Béla Bartók?s birth, and opening during the Budapest Spring Festival, draws from the best of the museum?s collection of 3,000 folk music instruments.
Among the contributors to the collection are many important Hungarians. In 1870, János Xántus left the museum with 90 items from his collection of East and Southeast Asian instruments. And in 1899, the museum put on display instruments collected by Count Jenő Zichy during his travels in Russia and East Asia. Interestingly, it was only later that the museum started to acquire Hungarian folk music instruments. Later contributors to the collection include Bálint Sárosi, who left the museum with instruments acquired on his travels in Africa, and Bartók, who, in addition to his well-documented travels to research Hungarian folk music in the Carpathian Basin, made trips to Algeria and Turkey to study the local folk music.
In addition to the instruments, the exhibition also features presentations, quizzes and other educational programmes.
?With Pipe, Drum and Didgeridoo? Folk Instruments of the World? runs until November 4, 2007.
The exhibition is on the 2nd floor of the Ethnographical Museum at 12 Kossuth Lajos Square, across the road from the Parliament building.
For more information please visit www.neprajz.hu/english/index2.html
