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‘Central to human identity’: exhibition at the Met connects bodies with musical instruments

Musical Bodies looks at 4,000 years of musical history and how humans have forged relationships with instruments ‘A kind of reconnecting with the past’: the Met celebrates the art of the portrait Music is very much at the heart of what it is that makes us human. While there is debate over precisely why we first started making music – with leading theories arguing that it arose for purposes of hunting, communication, spiritual practice, and forging community bonds – what’s not debated is that music-making is something we pour ourselves deeply into, forging intimate relationships with our instruments. The Met ’s compelling new exhibition Musical Bodies looks at 4,000 years of musical history, teasing out the complex web of interrelationships between the sounds made through human bodies and the many instruments we have used to alter and augment those sounds. From singing, whistling and bodi

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Musical Bodies looks at 4,000 years of musical history and how humans have forged relationships with instruments ‘A kind of reconnecting with the past’: the Met celebrates the art of the portrait Music is very much at the heart of what it is that makes us human. While there is debate over precisely why we first started making music – with leading theories arguing that it arose for purposes of hunting, communication, spiritual practice, and forging community bonds – what’s not debated is that music-making is something we pour ourselves deeply into, forging intimate relationships with our instruments. The Met ’s compelling new exhibition Musical Bodies looks at 4,000 years of musical history, teasing out the complex web of interrelationships between the sounds made through human bodies and the many instruments we have used to alter and augment those sounds. From singing, whistling and bodi

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According to The Guardian’s linked item, ‘Central to human identity’: exhibition at the Met connects bodies with musical instruments, Musical Bodies looks at 4,000 years of musical history and how humans have forged relationships with instruments ‘A kind of reconnecting with the past’: the Met celebrates the art of the portrait Music is very much at the heart of what it is that makes us human. While there is debate over precisely why we first started making music – with leading theories arguing that it arose for purposes of hunting, communication, spiritual practice, and forging community bonds – what’s not debated is that music-making is something we pour ourselves deeply into, forging intimate relationships with our instruments. The Met ’s compelling new exhibition Musical Bodies looks at 4,000 years of musical history, teasing out the complex web of interrelationships between the sounds made through human bodies and the many instruments we have used to alter and augment those sounds. From singing, whistling and bodi

Context

The development sits in VINI’s Culture coverage for readers following arts, entertainment, fashion, film, music, celebrity, and the business of culture. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The linked item is dated 2026-06-09T09:00:51+00:00.

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Primary source: ‘Central to human identity’: exhibition at the Met connects bodies with musical instruments via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.

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