The Mutare Museum in Eastern Zimbabwe reorganized an ethnographic collection in one of its galleries in 2016. This article will look at the processes by which traditional drums as part of this collection were reconfigured and ascribed new meanings derived from their everyday ritual uses amongst the eastern Shona community. As one of the curators involved in the researching that led to the co‐production of the exhibition I will demonstrate how we utilized new museology and co‐curatorship in integrating multiple perspectives from the community on socio‐cultural uses of traditional drums. The paper will also show connections between the community and the drums which were previously viewed as static and mute objects. Collaborating with the community in reorganizing drums in the Beit galley will be presented in the paper as a strategy embraced in decolonizing the museum practice.