The project ‘On the uniqueness of Polish bagpipe instruments. Virtual guide’ is a task carried out in 2024 by the Museum of Folk Musical Instruments in Szydłowiec within the framework of the National Plan for Reconstruction and Increasing Resilience, Component: Resilience and Competitiveness of the Economy; Investment A2.5.1: Programme to support the activities of entities of the cultural and creative industries to stimulate their development.
The project was funded by the European Union NextGenerationEU and the Mazovian Voivodeship Government.
The project was prepared and implemented in order to popularise knowledge of folk musical instruments as an important element of Polish musical tradition, emphasising the unique place that bagpipe musical instruments occupy among them.
Bagpipe musical instruments are instruments distinguished by their history dating back to antiquity, their complex construction and its regional diversity. Known in Europe and Asia, they have also been building the Polish cultural identity for centuries, and the performance traditions and manufacturing skills associated with them have been inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Heritage List.
The project was carried out on the basis of the collection of the Szydłowiec Museum – the largest in the country, with objects representing all basic types and varieties of bagpipe instruments.
As part of the task, 2D and 3D (360° technology) representations of twelve selected bagpipe instruments were produced, which realistically show the complex construction of the presented instruments. The renderings (photographs and films) were enriched with descriptions and sound files, allowing visitors to become familiar with the sound of the instruments as performed by contemporary folk musicians.
The project involved ethnomusicologists-instrumentologists specialising in bagpipe instruments, folk artists, specialists in digitisation techniques, translators, graphic artists and IT specialists.
The summary of the project’s activities is the dudy.muzeuminstrumentow.pl website, which presents prepared materials in the form of a virtual guide.
Care was taken to ensure digital accessibility of the site, preparing it in accordance with WCAG rules, adding alternative subtitles and a version in Easy to Read.