Multimedia presentation of musical instruments

The problem presented in the paper belongs to a wide subject concerning the use of multimedia technology for the improvement of educational activities inmuseums and for attracting the audience with objects of art. Several examples of temporal and regular multimedia performances in galleries are known in Poland and abroad, but still the technology is not fully used in traditional museums. In the paper, the case study of multimedia presentation devoted to the collection of the historical instruments from the Museum of Musical Instruments in Poznań is described. By their nature, musical instruments are interactive, but for the reasons of security and costs, only on rare occasions may visitors listen to their sound. Multimedia can change this situation. The inspiration for creating the multimedia presentation was the 250th Anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart birth. The historical 18th century instruments from the collection of the museum accompanied by the music of the composer have been virtually exposed. Shown during the "Museums Night" in May 2006, the presentation has gained interest of hundreds of guests and proved useful for future educational actions.