Resonances of the Silk Roads: The Curation, Background, and Context of the New Collection of Musical Instruments at the Yungang Academy

This study aims to provide a window into current developments in curatorial practice and museum studies regarding a multicultural topic within China. Our case concerns a new kind of collection of musical instruments and its unique context in a leading archaeological and cultural heritage institution. It consists of 203 traditional musical instruments, primarily of more recent origin, from all around the world with a primary focus on Eurasia. It is the only collection of this scope and theme in China. It was assembled over decades by the renowned Chinese scholar Ziye Fan and curated by the authors at the Yungang Academy in Datong, China, in 2024. The Yungang Academy is situated at the Yungang Grottoes, a 5th-century Buddhist UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is also known for its music-related, multicultural Silk Road iconography. The study begins by analyzing this context, followed by an introduction to the collection. It then proceeds with a critical reflection on the curation process regarding preservation, documentation, classification, organological analysis, and the creation of a new Chinese musical instrument nomenclature. Within the Chinese museum landscape, this project can be characterized as a pioneering undertaking. The ethical provenance and unique placement context of the collection, which resonates with the collection’s topic, invite new research perspectives. The study investigates whether the collection can serve as a pioneering postcolonial model for curating world heritage in a Chinese context. We discuss the collection’s acquisition history and the symbolic value of its placement. As a result, the collection is established as an example of a novel postcolonial approach in China, bearing great symbolic significance for equal cultural exchanges and dialogue.