www.zaman.com A long-running project to establish a Turkish music museum, which will be the first of its kind in Turkey, is currently in its final stages in İstanbul.
Preliminary problems have been rectified and the museum is likely to open toward the end of June. Bayram Bilge Tokel, the Culture and Tourism Ministry's director general of fine arts, said that Turkish music would get the attention it deserves for its notation and form, already appreciated by international music and art authorities.
Tokel said that the Turkish instruments such as the bağlama, kanun and oud are introduced as Greek instruments in Greece. "We are going to put an end to these arguments by revealing our musical identity at this museum," he stated.
To prepare for the project a number of museums in places such as Rome, Paris and Bremen were examined. The Finance Ministry provided the required budget of YTL 2 million to the Directorate General of Fine Arts.
The museum will feature instruments, books, magazines, other publications and audio and video materials documenting the historical development of Turkish music. Pieces collected from Topkapı Palace (İstanbul), the Mevlana Museum (Konya) and a number of other Anatolian museums will also be displayed.
The maintenance of the instruments will be handled by the instructors of the İstanbul Technical University State Conservatory Instrument Making Department. Special experts will also contribute to the project.
Although the museum has not yet opened, the University of Vienna has called on Turkey to send a representative to a conference regarding the world's music museums, which will take place on Aug. 16 in Vienna. Huge demand for the museum by tourists is expected. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism will organize special tours to the museum and advise tour operators about assisting the tourists on these visits. An information kiosk at Topkapı Palace will provide tourists with details of the music museum.
The project was resumed last year upon a government decision, and a storehouse in ـsküdar was transferred to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to host the museum.
A special research team of 13 experts was established within the body of the museum. The team's members were assigned from within the İstanbul State Turkish Music Ensemble. Artists who are veterans of their fields will be working within the group.
The museum will periodically host art activities and concerts open to the public. For two years now, the Directorate General of Fine Arts has been classifying and publishing series of books in all categories of Turkish music including classical, folk, sufi, mehter, symphonic, contemporary and polyphonic.
Although this museum will be Turkey's first concentrating solely on music and musical instruments, many countries have more than one music museum; for instance Britain currently has 40. |