A trip to the musical instrument museum in Meknes

I like museums. I like musical instruments. But I’m not always into musical instrument museums. I have this thing about locking musical instruments in glass cabinets. Q: When is a musical instrument not a musical instrument? A: When it’s locked in a glass cabinet, never to be played again.

That said, I can appreciate the issues at play here. Some stuff just needs conserving. I got a greater appreciation for this when I was invited (as part of a large group) to consult with the Horniman Museum about their collection. It’s a wonderful collection and I think they do a pretty good job of balancing stuff, with performances, recordings and loans all part of the mix.

With this all in mind, we headed to the musical instrument museum in Meknes. We spotted it on our way south when looking on Atlas Obscura but bypassed Meknes, hoping to return when heading north again. And so we did.

The first thing you notice in the area and inside the building itself is how beautiful it all is. It was definitely a highlight in its own right. Lovely to see, alongside the instruments themselves.

I was immediately taken by the bagpipes in the entrance hall, though at this stage we were firmly in ‘musical instruments in glass cabinets territory’. There was little in the way of information or context.

I have since read that these double chanter bagpipes (known as Zukra in Morroco) are less associated with Morocco as they (known as Mizwad elsewhere) are with Tunisia and Algeria. There were many aerophones with double tonehole rows on display though. Something I can always get behind.

I was reminded of Wojciech Rusin’s pipes on more than one occasion.

Speaking of modern musical instrument makers, I naturally gravitated to the video and artefacts showing an active scene, making ouds and various traditional drums. Having heard ‘wood’ referred to as ‘oud’ in Arabic, I finally linked it to the instrument through one of the information boards :)

Beyond the musical instrument making, I was delighted to see videos highlighting the varied and live traditions of different Moroccan communities. It was particularly exciting for us, having cycled through most of the (predominantly rural) settings highlighted. Traditions such as: L’Hyat, Hassani, Zawya Hamdouchia, Reggada, Gnawa, Aissawa, Ahl Touat, Amazigh. And more, which I neglected to note down.

What excited me the most were the videos of each tradition, showing the variations, intense group dynamics, driving rhythms and wild dance rituals. Just mesmeric. This is what lies behind any musical instrument museum for me. People making some noise with those musical instruments in the glass cabinets…

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Note: there was a single space on the way out that was dedicated to contemporary Moroccan music. This featured a single wall of screens, each showing different performers simultaneously, along with an information board. I felt this added very little. I’m not a curator but I’d have been happy to have the contemporary stuff woven into the main exhibit spaces. Show me the links between Gnawa traditions and the very active modern day Gnawa scene, for example.