Gurminj Museum

infobox Museum
name= Gurminj Museum of Musical Instruments


imagesize= 260px
established= 1990
location= 23 Bokhtar St,
Dushanbe, Tajikistan
type= Musical Instruments
visitors=
director= Iqbol Zavqibekov
curator= Lola Ulughova
website= [http://www.gurminj.tj/index.html www.gurminj.tj] The official name is Gurminj Museum of Musical Instruments is better known as Gurminj Museum is located in the center of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, behind the Office of the Mayor of the city on Bokhtar Street [http://www.gurminj.tj/contact.html] .

History

The museum was founded in 1990 by Gurminj Zavkibekov (1929-2003), Tajik actor and musician, who was honored as a National Artist (People's Artist) of Tajikistan and a laureate of the most prestigious national prize in arts for significant contributions to the cultural heritage of Tajikistan - the Rudaki State Prize. After his death in 2003, his son Iqbol Zavkibekov (also a professional musician) is heading the Museum.

Collection

There are about 100 musical instruments in the Museum collection mostly representing the Pamiri, Badakhshani traditional musical instruments. The collection is dominated by string instruments as tor, rubab, Pamiri rubab, tanbur, dutor, setor, qashqar, ghizhak, etc. There are also number of drums as tabl, daf, doyra etc. The collection was gathered by Gurminj Zavkibekov during his trips to his native Kuhistoni-Badakhshon. There are number of other instruments that do not belong the to the Pamiri traditional instruments and some other casual items of antiquariat are for display at the Museum. The Museum is one of the most visited places in Dushanbe by foreigners.

Place of cultural events

The Museum also have been the place for different cultural gatherings and events. It is a place of regular cultural events [ [http://baacstajik.blogspot.com/2007/08/july-2-2007-dushanbe.html Tajik Dance Initiative: July 2, 2007 Dushanbe ] ] as parties and rehearsals of a renowned musical band Shams and their soloist Nobovar Chanorov [ [http://tribes.tribe.net/silkroad/photos/3f9a386a-f399-47d1-ab76-3da4b7c6df44 Shams Istiqlal Concert at Gurminj Museum - tribe.net ] ] . Gurminj's son Iqbol Zavkibekov is the Arts Director of the band. The band is still based next to the Museum in a basement apartment, where they produced many of their albums.

External links

* [http://www.gurminj.tj/index.html Official Website of the Museum]
* [http://dushanbe.usembassy.gov/culture.html Dushanbe at a glance: culture in Dushanbe by US Embassy in Tajikistan]
* [http://www.naison.tj/MUZEI/foto_welcome.shtml Selected photos of the Museum on naison.tj]

References