New MIM exhibit – Ancient musical treasures from Central China

Phoenix’s Musical Instrument Museum is giving residents an up-close glimpse at rare ancient Chinese musical instruments. The exhibition, called “Ancient Musical Treasures from Central China: Harmony of the Ancients from the Henan Museum,” features a collection of instruments that date back thousands of years.

More than 60 rare pieces make up this exciting new collection. Museum curator, Colin Pearson, said “The earliest object in the collection dates back almost 9,000 years, and the most recent object dates to 1912.”

Some of the more unusual artifacts featured in the collect are a bronze zheng bell, a bone paixiao panpipe which will likely be very interesting to western visitors. The exhibition also includes a flute collection that are some of the oldest musical instruments in China.

Musical instruments are not the only things in the fascinating exhibition. Several pieces of artwork will also be featured. One artifact is a red ceramic drum and an unusual three-story tower house with musician and dancer figurines. All the pieces in the collection comes from Henan Museum, one of China’s oldest and most prestigious museums.

The exhibition opened Friday and will remain on display through May 6.