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When people of traditional societies make common objects used
in everyday life or exceptional objects for ceremonial purposes, they display more
than skill: the form and decoration of the objects are an expression of their culture.
— Denise Gluck and Georges-Henri Rivière, Arts populaires des pays
de France, vol. 1 (Paris: Joël Cuénot, 1976), p. 6, translation
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Musical instruments play an important sociocultural role in all
societies, often being associated with religion, magic or the exercise of power.
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A medium through which a particular repertoire of melodies and rhythms is expressed,
musical instruments are also a means of communication among members of a community. In
all religious rituals, they serve as intermediaries between the human world and the
spiritual world. They play a symbolic role because they represent the temporal or
spiritual power of a person or a group.
All societies have music. In this exhibition, we will discover various forms, uses and
sounds of musical instruments from around the world, as well as materials used to make
instruments.
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