An exceptional evening took place at the National Museum of Slovenia in connection with the exhibition The Neanderthal Flute – 60,000 Years of Music, offering visitors an in-depth insight into one of the most important archaeological and cultural finds in Slovenia, while also situating it within the global history of music.

The event was marked by an inspiring discussion about the Neanderthal flute—the oldest known musical instrument in the world—which, through its age and significance, transcends temporal, cultural, and geographical boundaries. Discovered in the Divje Babe cave above Cerkno, the flute has for decades captured the imagination of both experts and the wider public, raising fundamental questions about creativity, symbolic thinking, and musical expression in prehistoric humans.

The evening’s special atmosphere was shaped by a concert by renowned musicians Tinkara Kovač and Boštjan Gombač, who created a dialogue between ancient sounds and contemporary musical expression. They further captivated the audience by playing a reconstruction of the Neanderthal flute, allowing the instrument to come alive once again in sound form and offering a rare opportunity to experience tones that are tens of thousands of years old.

The event was one of the concluding programs of the exhibition in Ljubljana, which is now moving to the place where the Neanderthal flute has its original environment and story—Cerkno. The relocation of the exhibition symbolically and substantively returns the flute to the space of its origin, while emphasizing the importance of local heritage within a broader, even global, context.

The exhibition will soon be on display at the Cerkljansko Museum, where it will be officially opened on 20 February. It will offer visitors a comprehensive insight into the archaeological find, its research, interpretations, and significance, as well as into the broader context of music as one of the fundamental forms of human expression.

You are warmly invited to experience this remarkable story of music, heritage, and time in Cerkno—a story that for 60,000 years has connected the past with the present and reminds us of the universal power of sound and creativity.