Library of Musical Instruments - Narva

Musical Instrument Building as a Community Project

This is the second iteration of our Library of Musical Instruments and was realized in the context of the Narva Artist Residency in Estonia.

The work follows the duo’s ongoing practice of designing unique musical instruments that combine simple materials - in this case wood, some strings and elastic bands. The research was also connected to the acoustic environments of the abandoned textile factory of Kreenholm, and to the local traditions of musical instruments, such as the pärä. This library is mainly composed of bullroarers of different shapes, and an aeolian harp.

The instrument are left on display for public use as part of the greenhouse that has been built in the same period at NART.
The library seeks to foster self-directed learning, and explore innovative approaches to the creation and diffusion of new musical approaches. Each instrument is unique, an ad hoc creation that everyone can borrow, take home, and use at will before returning it back to the community space.

As part of our activities, we also directed an afternoon workshop open to participants of any age. We introduced them to simple performative ideas and we implemented the results as part of our final concert in Narva.