Whistles : from ritual to toys

Abstract

'Whistles: From Ritual to Toys' is the first in a series of temporary exhibitions which is being organized at Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum. The intention is to highlight an aspect or a collection of artefacts from the Palazzo Falson permanent collection and to expand upon these artefacts by loaning similar ones from private and museum collections. This should provide an opportunity to study in-depth little known areas of art and will, for the first time, bring together similar artefacts currently dispersed in various collections. The idea for the present exhibition was first proposed by music historian Anna - Borg Cardona, who kindly took on the role of guest curator and also loaned a number of whistles. We were pleasantly surprised at the number and variety of whistles which were offered by various lenders for this exhibition and this prompted us to devise a classification for these whistles and to divide the display accordingly. These divisions correspond with the use of whistles throughout the life of a person, ranging from infants' toys to whistles used in a work context. We hope you will enjoy the exhibition.