MINNEAPOLIS—If guards at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) hear the sweet sounds of the Congolese thumb piano echoing through the gallery, they needn’t worry that a visitor is touching an artifact. Someone might just be playing on an iPhone.

As part of its new “iAfrica: Connecting with Sub-Saharan Art” show, the MIA has created a special iPhone application that lets users play a digital replica of a lamellophone that dates from the middle of the 20th century and is on display as part of the show.

The application also lets visitors find out more information and explore 28 of the objects in the exhibition by investigating their aesthetic, ethnographic, and sensorial qualities, as well as notes about their historical background and provenance.

Though the whole idea seems like a radical concept, officials point out that in the 1700s museums encouraged visitors to hold and use artifacts on display, though modern conservation techniques have made such handling verboten in most circumstances.

The museum says that iAfrica should be available at Apple’s online iTunes store within the next few weeks.