1. Title of the Project:

Katta ashula (Great Song)

2. Name of the Performing Art Concerned in the Project

Katta ashula – musical art; traditional Uzbek music.

3. Geographic location of the Community

Republic of Uzbekistan, Fergana Valley, Central Asian Region

4. Introduction of the Performing Art

Katta ashula (literally – “a great song”) – is a genre of Uzbek oral-professional song, which possesses a specific feature of musical-poetic language, a manner of performance and prevalent form. It was widely performed in the past and developed in the folk culture. Songs of Katta ashula developed mainly in the Fergana Valley of Uzbekistan.

Katta ashula is characterised laconicism and the expressiveness of its musical technique, the dynamism of its melodic development and bright emotionality. Figurative construction of katta ashula is related to its traditions of oriental poetry of lyrical-philosophical and didactic-religious constitution. Performance of katta ashula demands a special preparation, skills and virtuosity of singers. Oral transmission of skills and techniques of singing from master to apprentice remains the basic way of safeguarding the music and its spiritual value.

Katta ashula is a traditional song form, and its bearers were singers – hofiz (katta ashulachi), trained by the traditional method of education “usto-shogird” (master-pupil). Oral transmission of the skills and techniques of singing from the masters to the apprentices is still the main form of preservation of music and spiritual values. Katta ashula is an intangible cultural heritage not only of Uzbeks but also of other people in Central Asia (among other performers were Tajiks, Uigurs and Turks). The area of distribution is Fergana Valley (nowadays it includes some regions in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan).

5. Problems the community faced before the launch of the project, and the factors which caused the decline of and threatened the performing art

In the first half of the 20th century traditional music art, including katta ashula, still preserveed its cultural and social influence. It served a large audience, and cultural traditions and skill of performance were inherited. However, it had gradually lost its social and cultural recognition among the public. Traditional art came to be contrasted with professionally composed art. Traditional musicians and singers were not regarded as elite in the music world. Situations surrounding katta ashula became very severe; even among well-known musicians and researchers there wasn’t interest in these genres which were performed without musical instruments. Moral and material support was not given to singers of this original genre. Generalisation of pop music among young people stood in the way of the incoming new talented generation.

The main problems are the preservation and safeguarding of the katta ashula genre, its skills and techniques of singing, and lack of financial support for singers who still bear traditions of katta ashula in local areas. Its future, in many cases, depends on how it will be interpreted as reviving cultural traditions and/or discoveries of new scientific research on katta ashula.

6. Details of the project for solving problems of the performing art, especially who and how it started, finance, and involvement of younger generation

The idea of revitalisation and succession of katta ashula in Fergana was initiated by the Government of Uzbekistan, local communities and some interest groups. The project is driven by the Department of Folklore and Modern Music of Scientific-Research Institute of Art Studies at the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan (Prof. R.Abdullaev, Doctor of Science in Art).

The main objectives are:

• if necessary, to fix or to reconstruct the functioning system of all forms of the intangible cultural heritage of Fergana Valley particularly katta ashula;
• to do research on how it is recognised among people in modern life, including the reanalysis of the forms of changes (loss of the real tradition of performance of katta ashula, “folklorism”);
• to develop programmes for safeguarding the originality of katta ashula genre in general, the aesthetic of traditional culture not only in local areas, but also in different ethnic regions
• to publish a database based upon the pioneer materials which are submitted by the organisations and specialists.