Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 17 September, a solemn and bright opening of the second International Bakhshi Art Competition took place at the amphitheater of the city of Nukus. The skills of foreign and local participants will be judged by a jury consisting of foreign and local experts.

According to the latest data, more than 100 participants and guests from 22 countries of the world arrived at the International Festival, including representatives of such organizations as UNESCO, TURKSOY, distinguished guests, experts in the field of local heritage, science, art and other spheres, as well as representatives various domestic and foreign media.

Within the framework of the festival, the national opera "For the People" will be presented for the participants and guests at the Karakalpak State Academic Musical Theater and an excursion to the cultural heritage sites of the Muynak region will be organized.

“I perceive folk art as a wonderful song that originated at the dawn of mankind, a life-giving source of the culture of every nation. To preserve its purity and unfading importance, to create all conditions for the further development of this amazing, fascinating art is not only our task, but also a sacred duty,” President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said in his message to the participants of the II International Bakhshi Art Festival.

The art of bakhshi, praising the lofty ideals of humanism, such eternal values as peace and friendship, kindness and justice, is one of the most ancient types of oral folk art. And therefore, from time immemorial, throughout the world, storytellers, bakhshi, akyns and zhivovs have been revered as noble exponents of the soul of the people, uniting different countries and nations with their art.

The Republican Bakhshi Art Center and the Bakhshi Art Development Fund, established in 2019 in the country, are fruitful. State ensembles of bakhshi art are organized in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, Surkhandarya, Kashkadarya and Khorezm regions, regional ensembles in other regions.

In all children’s schools of music and art, as well as in the Nukus school of opera and art, bakhshi deeply study this type of folklore. In the recently created Uzbek National Institute of Musical Art named after Yunus Rajabi, a department of bakhshi art has been opened. For teachers of this profile, there are advanced training courses at the State Institute of Arts and Culture of Uzbekistan. The textbooks "Uzbek folk dastans", "Uzbek folk songs" and the multivolume collection "Karakalpak folklore" were published. In addition, a series of books "Monuments of Uzbek oral folk art" of 100 volumes is being published.

In order to widely popularize national folklore creativity, special attention is paid to the effective use of the possibilities of information and communication technologies, television and the Internet, the release of audio and video recordings. The art of bakhshi, thanks to the creative thinking and performances of bakhshi poets, akyns and zhivovs, is passed down from generation to generation. As you know, in the Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya, Samarkand, Khorezm regions and the Republic of Karakalpakstan, the traditions of bakhshi art have been preserved since ancient times.

The Bakhshi Art Festival, held for the second time, is important in glorifying oral folk art, preserving it and bringing it to future generations.

The main goal of the event is to widely promote the art of bakhshi at the republican and international levels. Attention will also be paid to the revival and development of creative schools, the holding of the Bakhshi art festival and in other regions of the republic, on the basis of the available unique methods of performance and the “Teacher-student” tradition.

The end of the festival and the ceremony of awarding the winners will take place on September 20 in the central amphitheater of the city of Nukus.