Traveling Music: The South Asian String Instruments

摘要

South Asia is a treasure-house of musical instruments. String instruments, in particular, have enormous diversity in structure, playing styles, sound, performance contexts and sociocultural functions. Despite their broad usage and cultural importance, most South Asian string instruments have a foreign origin. Many traveled to the region from Central and West Asia and were adapted into a new soundscape by incorporating local materials and aesthetics. Some instruments even traveled further, into Southeast and East Asia. This exhibition was an invitation to appreciate the diversity of South Asian instruments, the end result of movements across Eurasia over many centuries.