Musical practice is an expression of social discourse, religious worldview and individual creative expression of present and past societies worldwide. Music of the world enables cohesion beyond language, is an expression and means of social organisation and cohesion, and thus a proven entry point for cultural mediation.

As the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, however, they remain largely underrepresented in the academic, but especially in the museum sector. A comprehensive perspective on the diversity of the world's musics is often only found as a separate exhibition section in ethnological museums.

The project "Knowledge Memory Music in Museum Practice" was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with a duration from 01.03.2017 to 29.02.2020. It has investigated the challenges and possibilities of linking tangible and intangible cultural heritage using the example of ethnomusicological collections. In a local network, the CWM and the Roemer-und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim (RPM) bring together their own ethnological and ethnomusicological collection holdings in a virtual and real sound archive. Within the framework of the project, innovative approaches in the fields of museum education and music education were developed and tested in close connection with scientific discourses in ethnomusicology and musicology, including formats such as interactive sound performances, workshops or music theatre projects for children and young people.

The mutual linking and contextualisation of museum and university collection objects is to be the basis for the conception of a public presentation of these shared resources in a holistic exhibition. This will primarily involve intensive cooperation in the areas of collection management and museum education. The exhibition will be conceived as a follow-up project.

In the course of the cooperation project, the challenges and possibilities of linking material and immaterial cultural heritage (intangible cultural heritage) will be examined using the example of ethnomusicological collection contents. The project makes a civil society contribution to cultural awareness-raising, and thus favours the reduction of cultural prejudices. In this sense, it can be understood as a contribution to inclusive museum and music education.