THE CONTEMPORARY ART OF BAHKSHI

A New Sound Of The Golden Heritage Of Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is a country wrestling with its past and its future. Ancient historical cities where heroes such as Alexander the Great and Tamerlane walked the same smooth worn pavements as today’s tourists, need preserving, yet the country is also caught up in a headlong rush to modernity and globalisation. The balance between the demands for tradition and future are truly polarised here. It is not only the physical mausoleums, palaces and silk road fortresses that could be at risk but also the non-tangible heritage too. The folk literature, which often combines with traditional music (known here as Bahkshi), is a very important part of historical culture and is even recognised by UNESCO. Storytelling, singing and, in the past, even rallying the troops into battle was a skill, with works passed down between masters of the art. Until very recently much of that work was not written down and it is unimaginable how much of this aural cultural history has been lost over the centuries.