Description
An institution of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Tajikistan with a designated center for Tajik Cultural Heritage.
Prior to the establishment of this center, research and data collection on traditional cultural expressions and particularly the intangible cultural heritage was undertaken by the individual research workers of the institute’s folklore and methods and research departments. In particular, one of the currently main ongoing research projects executed by the members of the Center is «Current situation of the intangible cultural heritage in the country: challenges and perspectives (for the years 2016-2020)». This large-scale project is distributed among the Center's members who conduct field work, data collection and analysis following the terms of reference laid out in the state initiated program «Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Tajik People for the 2013-2020».
The new project was confirmed and is funded by the Ministry of Economic and Industrial Development of the Republic of Tajikistan in 2020. The project was developed and is implementing by scholars of the Institute of Culture and Information (RICI) for five years (2021-2025). Tajikistan has numerous cultural, historical and natural sites, such as castles, fortresses, mosques, madrassas, minarets, mausoleums of great thinkers, poets and religious personalities, as well as springs, pools, unusual huge stones, caves, long-standing trees, high rocks and mountains that are closely connected with the life and being of the inhabitants of the country. Each of these cultural and natural sites cover a number of oral histories, short stories and legends, beliefs, rituals, ethical rules of pilgrimage, and other traditional knowledge and practices.
The main goal of the project is to collect study and research the intangible cultural heritage associated with the above mentioned objects, and thus contributes to the preservation of the ICH, protect the ecosystem, and promote the development of tourism in the country. The results of the project correspond to the Sustainable Development Goals, numbers 6, 15.
Over the past two years, fieldworks of RICI researchers have been organized in the various districts of the Tajikistan. The collected materials and results show that the people of these areas will take care of the sacred places themselves, continue pilgrimages, conduct rituals, tell legends about the objects of their territory. People clean up around the facilities, repair roads, build infrastructure and etc.
Researchers use ethnographic and partially archaeological methods in their fieldworks. An inventory questionnaire is filled in for each object, which will be used in the future to compile a list of cultural, historical and natural objects of Tajikistan, as well as when compiling a map of cultural, historical and natural objects of the country.
Data collections methods employed in fieldworks include multimedia recording such as photos, audio and visual records and field notes. The gathered materials after analysis are archived in the Institute and post-fieldwork materials are than used for updating and completion of the «National Inventory List of Intangible Cultural Heritage», which has been printed twice already. In addition the gathered material allowed organizing a catalogue of the traditional craftsperson in the country that are the main agents of continuity, revitalization and transfer of intangible national cultural expressions.
Address
734018, Nemat Karabaev avenue 17, Dushanbe city, Tajikistan