GEOGRAPHIC GALLERIES

Travel the world through music.

MIM displays more than 4,200 instruments representing all the world’s countries and many territories. In the Geographic Galleries, guests can see, hear, and experience musical traditions from every corner of the globe.

The Geographic Galleries focus on major world regions: Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania, Latin America, Europe, and United States / Canada. Many of the instruments displayed are rare examples, the finest of their kind, historically significant, or part of distinctive musical cultures. Video monitors with footage of musical performances show instruments played in their original contexts.

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Inside the Geographic Galleries

Europe Gallery | Bagpipes are often associated with Scotland, but the instrument is part of musical traditions around the world. See examples from Croatia, France, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and Tunisia at the Bagpipes display.

Asia Gallery | Made in 1509 by a Buddhist priest, this historic Japanese shō mouth organ has been maintained in fully functioning condition for more than 500 years.

Latin America Gallery | The Recycled Orchestra exhibit features instruments made from discarded and recycled materials such as oil drums, water pipes, kitchen utensils, and X-ray films. The instruments were created by a youth orchestra from Cateura, Paraguay.

Europe Gallery | Adolphe Sax is best known as inventor of the saxophone, but he was also a skilled manufacturer and innovator of many types of brass instruments. The nouveau alto has a unique six-valve system and rotating bell.

United States / Canada Gallery | The Steinway exhibit displays the inner workings of a Steinway grand piano and features the historic first piano made by company founder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg in 1836.

Middle East Gallery | This historically important kamancheh is the most ornate of only seven known today made by legendary luthier Karam Khan.

Africa Gallery | The Ghana display includes MIM’s largest and most complex African xylophone, an angle-framed Dagara gyil with eighteen wooden keys atop their respective gourd resonators.

Oceania Gallery | Towering slit drums carved from large tree trunks are played for special ceremonies and community gatherings on the island nation of Vanuatu.