TEHRAN – A museum, featuring more than 220 musical instruments and objects related to sound and music, has opened at Tehran’s Azadi Tower, bringing together instruments from Iran and other parts of the world as well as vintage sound-recording and playback equipment.

The opening ceremony was held on Tuesday at the Azadi Tower in the presence of Mehdi Shafiei, the deputy minister of culture for artistic affairs, and a number of artists, cultural heritage enthusiasts and music lovers.

The ceremony began with a performance by an ensemble playing Iranian musical instruments.

Seyyed Mohsen Hosseini, head of the Azadi Tower, said the complex had sought in recent years to expand its museum-related activities alongside its cultural and artistic programs.

He said the new museum was intended not merely to display musical instruments and sound-related objects, but also to introduce part of Iran’s musical history and heritage, preserve related objects and documents, and provide a venue for specialized events.

Hosseini said the museum would help strengthen the Azadi Tower’s museum capacity and contribute to the preservation of Iran’s musical and sound heritage.

Tar player, researcher and collector Hossein Sajedinia, whose collection forms the basis of the museum, said preserving Iran’s sound and musical heritage required sustained cooperation between cultural institutions and artists.

He described the museum as the result of four decades of collecting and cultural activity.

Sajedinia said a sound museum was established in 2018 in the historic city of Tabriz as the country’s first private museum dedicated to sound and music. It was opened in one of the buildings belonging to the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts.

The collection now displayed at Azadi Tower includes more than 220 instruments and objects associated with sound and music. Iranian instruments on display include the tar, setar, kamancheh, santur, oud, ney, sorna, balaban and tombak, alongside instruments representing different cultures and regions around the world.

A section of the museum is devoted to historic technologies for producing, recording and reproducing sound. It includes gramophones, phonographs, reel-to-reel and cassette tape equipment, vintage radios, telephones, bells, whistles and other sound-related objects.

The collection also includes ritual instruments, traditional sound-producing devices, children's instruments and less familiar musical instruments, allowing visitors to explore music beyond the history and development of conventional instruments.

AM