The back has been completed. I have done the arching, inserted the purfling and carved and tuned the inside of the plate and glued the back to the ribs and neck, as you can see below. I can now work on the top of the instrument.

I have completed the ribs, completed the carving of the head and attached the neck to the ribs, as done in baroque instruments. This enabled me to use the ribs outline to define the contour of the body of the instrument. And after jointing and planing the top and bottom plates, I did the rough carving as you can see below. Next steps are to complete the carving of the arching and insert the purfling.

The viola making is going forward nicely. As you can see on the following picture, I have completed the templates and mold. Blocks, corner and ribs are done, and the head should be finished today. Behind the ribs, you can see the maple that will be used to make the back of the instrument.

I am starting to build a new viola. A copy of the instrument made by the Brother Amati (Antonio  & Girolamo) in 1620. Its one of the few surviving viola with that size. It has not been cut to reduce it in size like all the surviving violas from Andrea Amati. I am going to build it as a baroque instrument. With a neck almost in line with the body. Tailpiece and fingerboard made from flamed maple (with purfling). And obviously, gut strings and a handcut baroque style bridge. I will post picture of it as I am building it. In between here are some pictures of the original instrument posted by Bruce Carlson on Maestronet:

The "Mutation matière son, instruments de musique innovants" exhibition at the Centre Matéria in Quebec city has been noticed and a press article has been written about it. You can find it online on cyberpresse.ca (Journal Le Soleil). And below you can see a video slideshow of the instruments and their makers (http://vimeo.com/29183291):

The vernissage of  the "Mutation matière son, instruments de musique innovants" exhibition at the Centre Matéria in Quebec city is scheduled for September 9 at 5pm. The entry is free and everyone is invited to the exhibition (that will run until October 30st). Click on the following picture to the the exhibition flyer: