Museum of Free Belarus to Host Bagpipe Open Air for Night of Museums
The Museum of Free Belarus will soon launch the project "Dudy (Bagpipes): Music of the Past and Present", prepared for the Warsaw-wide program of the Night of Museums 2026. The program includes an exhibition, an interactive "Bagpipe Workshop", and a bagpipe open-air event, writes "Budzma".
The project is dedicated to bagpipes — a musical instrument that has shaped the musical landscape of Europe for centuries. The bagpipe tradition in Belarus was interrupted in the mid-20th century but has been successfully revived by several generations of enthusiasts since the 1980s. The project showcases Belarusian bagpipes in a Central European context and includes a thematic exhibition and an opening concert with a bagpipe dance party.
About the Exhibition
The exhibition "Dudy (Bagpipes): Instrument, History, Symbol" invites visitors to trace the path of the Belarusian bagpipe from a peasant instrument to a powerful national symbol, from a village tavern to marketing campaigns of international brands, from an everyday object to a mystical literary image, from myth to practical revival.
The exhibition is built on the contrast between the historical truth of an authentic village musician and the national romantic narrative created by the intelligentsia in the 19th-20th centuries, which transformed the bagpiper into a prophet and national soothsayer. The heart of the exhibition is a collection of real Belarusian and Polish bagpipes. Ultimately, the exhibition reveals the main paradox of history: it was this romantic myth that saved the bagpipe from disappearing and gave it new life in the present, where it not only returned to dance parties but also acquired a symbolic role, on both sides of the modern Belarusian political barricade.
On May 16 at 4:00 PM, the official opening of the project will take place with a presentation of the exhibition for media, honorary guests, and museum visitors.
Also planned in the program:
- curatorial tours at 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM with musician and researcher of the bagpipe tradition Yauhen Baryshnikau;
- interactive "Bagpipe Workshop", which will be open throughout the exhibition;
- The main event of the Night of Museums will be the nightly bagpipe open-air at 11:00 PM featuring Belarusian and Polish musicians. A live concert by bagpipers will unfold in the museum's courtyard — the sound of the ancient instrument will fill the space, and the night will transform into a communal dance under the open sky.
Where and When?
The official opening of the project "Dudy (Bagpipes): Music of the Past and Present" will take place on May 16 at 4:00 PM at the address: Warsaw, ul. Foksal 11.