NON WESTERN ART

Non Western Art

Non Western Art

Introduction

It was a secret known to few Cincinnatians and to virtually no one outside of the Cincinnati Art Museum. For decades, a spectacular trove of more than 800 antique musical instruments languished, untouched, neglected and forgotten in storage throughout the museum's meandering undercroft. The discovery means that Cincinnati could possess one of the most important collections of non-Western musical instruments in the United States. The collection spans four centuries and represents the cultures of more than 20 countries on four continents. It has drawn the attention of musical instrument specialists and curators in top museums across the nation. Therefore, the issues related to non western art will be discussed in detail.

Discussion

I was shocked," said Charles Rudig, a Cincinnati native, antique instrument expert and former head of musical instruments for Sotheby's Auction House. He has been hired by the museum as a consultant to help evaluate and catalog the instruments. "They have got a fabulous world music collection. It is wonderful. It is and it is very similar to the Metropolitan Museum (New York) collection. The Met's is bigger, but they were both formed at about the same time, the late 19th century." About 650 of the instruments were donated to the museum around the turn of the century by a single collector, a wealthy Cincinnati industrialist named William Howard Doane. Many of them are so-called "world music" instruments. Doane traveled the world and snapped up African drums, exotic stringed instruments, keyboards and mallet instruments, flutes and rattles. With the public's insatiable interest in world music and global cultures today, the rare find is perfect timing (Frascina, 1982, 42).

"As they are historic documents, this makes it a very important collection," said J. Kenneth Moore, curator in charge of the Musical Instruments Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Conservators will be wiping away a century of grime and soot (from when the museum was heated by coal) in preparation for an exhibition of 75 to 100 instruments to coincide with the 2012 World Choir Games in Cincinnati next July. Curators hope to integrate some pieces throughout the museum's collection after the exhibition closes. However, a dedicated gallery does not fit the museum's current mission, said museum director Aaron Betsky. So far, the museum, which has put off a planned expansion and laid off employees has received a small grant to ...