Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 13 December 2021, the XVI session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO began its work in virtual mode from the headquarters of the Organization in Paris.

Within the framework of the current session, the issue of inclusion of the element "Art of Bakhshi" in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity will be considered. The Chairman of the National Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan for UNESCO appealed to the members of the Evaluation Commission and the member countries of the ICONCS in support of this nomination, which was developed and submitted for consideration at the initiative of the Head of Uzbekistan.

The event is attended by the leadership of UNESCO, the member states of the ICONCS, high-ranking delegates from more than 190 states. The Republic of Uzbekistan is represented by a delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister Aziz Abdukhakimov, which also included Permanent Representative of the Republic of Uzbekistan to UNESCO Umid Shadiev and representatives of the National Commission for UNESCO.

During the speech at the plenary session, a presentation was made of the efforts made in recent years under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to preserve, augment and promote the country's rich intangible cultural heritage.

The commitment of the Government of Uzbekistan was also expressed to further implementation of the International Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of 2003 and to support UNESCO's activities in this direction.

“With a thousand-year history, Uzbekistan is proud of its rich cultural heritage. We have 9 national and multinational elements included in the UNESCO Representative List. We hope that in a couple of days another element will be added to this list - “Art of Bakhshi”,” said Aziz Abdukhakimov.

It should be noted that the voting process itself for the "Art of Bakhshi" nomination will take place on 16 December, and the 16th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO will continue until 18 December 2021.