Gurminj Museum of Musical Instruments
# Gurminj Museum of Musical Instruments

The Gurminj Museum of Musical Instruments (Russian: Музей музыкальных инструментов имени Гурминджа Завкибекова; Tajik: Осорхонаи асбобҳои мусиқии ба номи Гурминҷ Завқибеков) ( or Gurminj Museum (Russian: Музей Гурминджа)) is a museum located in the center of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, behind the Office of the Mayor on Bokhtar Street.

## History

The museum was founded in 1990 by Gurminj Zavkibekov (1929–2003), Tajik actor and musician, who was honored as a National 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) took charge of the Museum.

## Collection

There are about 100 musical instruments in the Museum collection mostly representing the Pamiri and Badakhshani musical tradition. The collection is dominated by string instruments, such as the tar, rubab, Pamiri rubab, tanbur, dutor, setor, qashqar, and ghizhak. There are also number of drums such as tabl, daf, and doyra.

The collection was gathered by Gurminj Zavkibekov during his trips to his native Kuhistoni-Badakhshon. There are a number of other instruments that do not belong to the Pamiri traditional instruments and some other antiquarian casual items are on display at the museum.

## Cultural events

The museum also hosts a variety of cultural gatherings and events, many featuring the Tajik musical ensemble Shams and their soloist Nobovar Chanorov. Gurminj's son Iqbol Zavkibekov is the arts director of the band, which operates out of an apartment near the museum.

