National Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Tajikistan
| Editor(s) | Rahimi Dilshod en Раҳимӣ Дилшод |
|---|---|
| Title | National Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Tajikistan |
| Alternative Title | Феҳристи миллии мероси фарҳанги ғайримоддӣ дар Тоҷикистон |
| Publication Type | Book |
| Language | tgk eng |
| Location | Tajikistan |
| Relevance to ICH Safeguarding | identification documentation transmission definition awareness raising inventory making |
| ICH Genre | oral tradition performing arts: music performing arts: dance social practices festive events craftsmanship |
| Keywords | Tajikistan Culture Intangible Heritage National |
| Description |
On August 17, 2010, the Republic of Tajikistan had ratified the UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Many countries, including Tajikistan, have prepared their national inventories according to the instructions of the 2003 Convention (Part 3, Article 12). One of the criteria of nomination documents for submission to the lists of UNESCO is including that element in the national inventory list. In the Republic of Tajikistan, the first version of the "National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Tajik People" (hereinafter—the Inventory) was compiled in 2013, which included 48 elements. One of the requirements of the Convention regarding the inventories is that the inventory must be regularly updated. In 2014, a more extensive version of it was prepared by cultural experts, ethnologists, and other specialists of the Research Institute of Culture and Information (RICI) in collaboration with representatives of communities, groups, and individual ICH bearers. It included 286 elements of the intangible culture of the people of Tajikistan. Two years later (2016), the national inventory was again updated and improved, which consisted of 515 elements of Tajik intangible culture. In 2018, for the fourth time, the inventory was revised and updated
for example, the elements that were the same in content and were recorded under two names were removed from it after the study, and new elements were added to the inventory, the total number of which reached 533 elements. In the revision of 2020, the number of elements of the inventory, based on new materials and inventories, increased to 538. Also, some of the elements that are no longer active were removed from the inventory and replaced by new inventoryed elements. The improvement was made on the basis of the inventory materials collected during ethnographic fieldwork of RICI employees. On behalf of the public organization "Pamir Mountains," with the head of K. Alamshoev, several elements were inventoried and presented to the experts of the Research Institute of Culture and Information for inclusion, which were also included in the inventory after review. In the 2020 update, a new section was added to the inventory, based on the experience of other countries, which is called "Cultural Spaces" and includes people's socio-cultural knowledge and experience in this or that environment and is the basis for the development of certain elements of the ICH. Previously, the inventory was updated every two years. From 2023, in accordance with the needs and requests of scientists in the field, the Scientific Council of the Research Institute of Culture and Information decided to renew it once every three years. In the next update, a new section titled "Knowledge and best practices for the safeguarding of ICH" was added to the inventory. In the Republic of Tajikistan, there are various measures and activities aimed at safeguarding and continuing the activities of intangible cultural heritage. For example, the television festival-competition of people's art, "Andaleb," from 1996 until today plays a worthy role in preserving, reviving, and improving the elements of people's culture. According to the regulations of "Andaleb," the activities of artists start at the local level—village communities and districts, then continue at the regional level and finally at the national level. Since 2014, specialists from the Research Institute of Culture and Information, the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, public organizations ("Pamir Mountains," Center for Creative Development, "Ravshan," "Dehai mo"), community members, and some individual craftsmen have been involved in updating the inventory. The inventory list was discussed first at the meeting of the working group and then at the meeting of the Scientific Council of the Research Institute of Culture and Information with the participation of scientists, culture office staff, representatives of various professions and crafts, and some comments and suggestions were taken into account. The improved list of intangible cultural heritage consists of the following sections: Section 1. Oral tradition—A000 (29 elements). Section 2. Performing arts – B000 (106 elements). Section 3. Celebrations, ceremonies, and customs—C000 (55 elements). Section 4. Knowledge and experiences related to nature and space—D000 (22 elements). Section 5. Traditional crafts and crafts - E000 (112 elements). Section 6. Traditional foods—F000 (151 elements). Section 7. Traditional sports and children's games - G000 (72 elements). Section 8. Cultural environments - H000 (6 elements). Section 9. Good Safeguarding Practices - I003. (3 elements) Each element of intangible culture in the inventory is numbered according to its section for example, the folktale number is "A001.". Next, the name of the element (with its synonyms) is mentioned, and a brief description of the element is given. After that, the year of entry of the element into the inventory is noted. Then the place of expansion, in which districts, regions, and cities the desired element is popular, is mentioned. In the fifth column of the inventory, the current state of the cultural element is indicated, in which state it is: active, semi-active, in a state of disrepair, etc. Finally, in the seventh column, printed sources related to the indicated element are presented. A brief description of the elements listed in the third column was compiled on the basis of information collected from ethnographic and art history expeditions. Also, the compilers for comparisons have used folkloristic and ethnographic works and encyclopedias such as "Tajik National Encyclopedia," "Cultural Knowledge of Tajik People," and others in the explanation of some elements. After the last update, the inventory contains 556 elements of intangible culture from the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan. The materials of the sections in previous and current editions and improvements were collected and developed by the following specialists: "Oral tradition" section - D. Rahimi "Performing art" - N. Klicheva, J. Obidpour, A. Zubaydov, A. Aminov "Celebrations and customs" - A. Aminov, Z. Kholmurodov, D. Rahimi "Knowledge and experiences related to nature and space" - D. Rahimi, A. Aminov "Folk crafts" - Z. Kholmurodov, L. Nosirova, F. Kadyrov, M. Muradov, D. Rahimi "Traditional foods" - Sh. Berdieva, D. Rahimi, M. Niyazova, G. Karimova "Traditional sports and children's games" - D. Rahimi "Cultural environments" - D. Rahimi, Alamshoev Q., and "Knowledge and best practices for protection of MFG" - D. Rahimi, Z. Kholmurodov, and A. Abdulloev. It should be said that many elements of the intangible culture of the Tajik people have not been fully or sufficiently studied. We hope that in the future, in the process of documenting and updating, more examples of the intangible culture of the Tajik people will be studied by researchers and will be inscribed on the National Inventory. The revised inventory will help to safeguard intangible cultural heritage within the country, inventory of elements, scientific research, preparation of nominations for submission to UNESCO lists, promotion and expansion of cultural elements, and strengthening of national identity. |
| Publisher | Istedod |
| Place of Publication | Tajikistan |
| Date of Publication | 2023 |
| Access URL | https://pitfi.tj/sites/default/files/pdf/Fehristi_2020.pdf |
| ISBN | 978-99947-2-639-4 |
| Usage | copyright cleared |
| Academic Field | Anthropology Cultural Studies |
| Community/Ethnic Group | Tajik communittues, groups, and indiviuals - ICH bearers |
| Contributor | Research Institute of Culture and Information |
| Active Contribution | Tajikistan, FY 2024 |
| Data Collection Project | |