TASHKENT, December 17. /“Dunyo” IA/. Bakhshi art has been inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during the Sixteenth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, reports “Dunyo” IA correspondent.
The session takes place online from 13 to 18 December 2021.
The nomination package for this element was prepared at the initiative of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev by the National Commission for UNESCO and submitted to the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage for consideration in 2020.
During the session, Uzbekistan delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the National Commission of Uzbekistan for UNESCO Aziz Abdukhakimov, made an official presentation of the Bakhshi Art nomination. The participants were informed about the efforts made by the Government to preserve and promote this art form at the national and international levels. The main attention was paid to the concrete measures taken in recent years under the leadership of the President of Uzbekistan to revive the bakhshi art, including the organization of an international festival, which is held in Uzbekistan every two years.
The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage approved the inclusion of the element on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage by general acclamation without any debate or vote.
According to the representatives of the evaluation commission, this art is a unique historical and cultural heritage, and the nomination package fits all the criteria for including this national element on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The decision will contribute to further strengthening measures for the preservation, augmentation and promotion of the bakhshi art at the national and international level with the close support of UNESCO.
The bakhshi art has become the sixth element of the intangible cultural heritage included in Representative List by Uzbekistan. Previously, the list included the Cultural Space of Boysun District (2008), Katta Ashula (2009), Askiya (2014), Cultures and Traditions of Pilaf (2016) and Lazgi (2019). In addition, with co-authorship with other countries, Uzbekistan took part in the nominations Shoshmaqom (2008), Navruz (2016) and Miniature Art (2020).
In the coming years, it is planned to introduce the national element Ceramic School of Uzbekistan, as well as several multinational nominations with other states, such as Traditional Skills of Handicrafts and Playing the Rubab, Traditional Skills of Embroidery in Central Asia, Tradition of Khoja Nasreddin Stories.
