MEMORY OF THE WORLD REGISTER Autochthonous Ethnic Music of the Caucasus on CD-ROM (World of the Caucasus Regional Public Foundation for the Promotion of Culture) Ref N° 2010-06 PART A – ESSENTIAL INFORMATION 1 SUMMARY The nominated documentary heritage is “Autochthonous Ethnic Music of the Caucasus on CD-ROM”. The recorded material is indigenous folk vocal and instrumental music, original phenomenon dating back to many centuries. It is performed live by dwellers of mountain settlements who, generation after generation, have inherited it from their parents and grandparents. The music is one of the most important elements of culture of the Caucasus' peoples: it inspires composers; it educates the local young; it carries on the old tradition and perpetuates a sense of cultural identity; it is of indispensable value for researchers of the region's art, culture, and society. The heritage is yet largely undiscovered by the world. Furthermore, the art, existing on insufficient records and mostly in live performances of its adherents, is endangered due to social disturbance and commercial neglect the local communities suffer. Presently available records of older performers of a native Caucasian music are on worn audiotape and need quality re-recording. The larger part of the music performed today has never been recorded before. Living in scarcely-populated and economically and politically troubled nations, performers of traditional Caucasian music, many of them aged and of feeble health, feel it more and more difficult these days to pass the art to the young generation who tend to migrate to more prosperous regions distant from their homes, or are otherwise unable to carry on the tradition. The World of the Caucasus Foundation (WCF) has started this two-folded work of the music preservation and making it accessible to contemporary and future generations. The project is managed by composer and collector Shirvani Chalayev. To this moment, he has performed CD-ROM records in the Caucasus' republics of Dagestan, Karachay, and Ossetia. The original musical art of the Caucasus is very diverse in its different regions, both in instruments and types. For example, in some localities chorus singing prevails, and in others it is solo music, etc. Chalayev has the expert knowledge of the region's local musical cultures, exquisite musical taste and respect of local traditions that are prerequisites of the task. WCF, being a non-governmental and non-commercial organization, lacks funds to complete the project of preservation of and establishing access to traditional musical art of the peoples of the Caucasus. UNESCO grant and professional assistance could help realize it better and sooner (in 1-2 years). If financial aid is not at the moment available, inclusion of the musical records in the Memory of the World Register would be of help in the WCF's own further realization of the project. Several CDs recorded for the project are available as samples. Uniqueness of the Nominated Documentary Heritage The uniqueness is firstly of the material: it is authentic indigenous folk music originated in ancient times by various nationalities of the region and performed live today. For over two centuries, it has been influencing Russian music, theatre, dance, literature, and painting, through this medium – first the Russian empire and later the Soviet Union, both now extinct – being brought to the greater world. It is also an indispensable element of particular Caucasian nations' cultural identities: it is part of everyday life of the people, without which no party can take place, be it a wedding, a funeral, a birthday party, or national or religious feast. Although Dagestani, Chechens, Karachay, Kabardins, Balkars, Ingush, Ossetians, Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis and other Caucasian nations have different musical traditions, different instruments, melodies, and songs – their music, nevertheless, constitutes a special sort of unified musical heritage, due to the ways in which these traditions are intertwined, in which they influence each other, in which each particular national music is known and popular in the other cultures of the region. Secondly, thorough and quality recording of the heritage has never before been done. The issue of preservation of the heritage itself has never been raised. The situation has aggravated recently, endangering this invaluable segment of the human culture. The vast majority of live traditional music performers in the Caucasus now live in poverty and cannot go on tours outside their native settlements. If the live performance tradition is interrupted and no usable records remain available – the regional, national, and international cultural loss will be irrecoverable. Significance of the Nominated Documentary Heritage Original ancient Caucasian ethnic music can easily vanish in the coming decades (it is already within the current generation's lifespan that a valuable part of this heritage can be lost). Significance of the project lies, first of all, in the universal – utilitarian, educational, spiritual, and artistic – character of the heritage, its important and indispensable role in both artistic and everyday life of the region. It is therefore of vital cultural value, for both the Caucasus whose future generations must not be denied access to their ancestors' musical art and the world culture whose entity should not be stripped of these cultures' traditional music contribution. Besides, preservation and promotion of this music should have a pacifying effect in this war- and-instability torn region, by having a positive impact on the regional inter-cultural relations, giving people a chance to hear their own musical art and get to know that of their neighbors, and sowing seeds of respect to other peoples' cultures. This could have a positive impact on the world's spiritual and political environment as well, where inter-cultural communication suffers many drastic gaps that need to be bridged. 2 DETAILS OF THE NOMINATOR 2.1 Name (person or organisation) The World of the Caucasus Regional Public Foundation for the Promotion of Culture (WCF) 2.2 Relationship to the documentary heritage nominated The music recorded in the project belongs to the nations of the Caucasus, their ancient folk tradition. The nominated documentary heritage (records on CD-ROM) belongs to WCF and collector of the material Shirvani Chalayev, distinguished composer of Dagestan and Russia, laureate of national and international awards, appointed by WCF to manage the “Original Ethnic Music of the Caucasus on CD-ROM” Project. Shirvani Chalayev has successfully participated in numerous WCF projects, composing music for films, taking part in round-table discussions on culture in the region, etc. Since 1960s, Chalayev has started recording and collecting instrumental and vocal traditional music of live performers of Caucasian settlements, of which he is an eminent expert and enthusiast. WCF has embedded this connoisseur undertaking of Shirvani Chalayev into the project of preservation of the endangered music. The fact that the composer has personally managed the project is extremely favourable for its implementation. WCF's cultural and educational projects are devoted to the promotion of culture and preservation of cultural heritage of the Caucasus. The Foundation's employees are educated in humanities and have sufficient expertise to carry out specific culture-related tasks. Among the recent WCF projects are: artistic and documentary exhibitions about the women of the Caucasus; publication of the photographic album about the women of the Caucasus, which the Foundation is also going to nominate for inclusion in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register; publications of poetry of the peoples of the Caucasus translated by poets Arseny Tarkovsky and Bella Akhmadulina; production of documentary films about prominent figures of arts and culture of the Caucasus. 2.3 Contact person (s) Elena Tutorskaya, Deputy Executive Director 2.4 Contact details (include address, phone, fax, email) Address: 10-2 Seliverstov Pereulok, Moscow, Russian Federation, 103045. Tel., fax.: +7 (495) 607 72 92 E-mail: [email protected]. 3 IDENTITY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE 3.1 Name and identification details of the items being nominated “Autochthonous Ethnic Music of the Caucasus on CD-ROM” collection of music includes the following albums (each containing two discs): 1. “Traditional Ethnic Music of Abkhazia” on CD-ROM 2. “Traditional Ethnic Music of Adyghea” on CD-ROM 3. “Traditional Ethnic Music of Armenia” on CD-ROM 4. “Traditional Ethnic Music of Azerbaijan” on CD-ROM 5. “Traditional Ethnic Music of Chechnya” on CD-ROM 6. “Traditional Ethnic Music of Cossacks of Don and Kuban” on CD-ROM 7. “Traditional Ethnic Music of Dagestan” on CD-ROM 8. “Traditional Ethnic Music of Georgia” on CD-ROM 9. “Traditional Ethnic Music of Ingushetia” on CD-ROM 10. “Traditional Ethnic Music of Kabarda and Cherkessia” on CD-ROM 11. “Traditional Ethnic Music of Karachay and Balkaria” on CD-ROM 12. “Traditional Ethnic Music of Ossetia” on CD-ROM Owners of the nominated documentary heritage: The World of the Caucasus Regional Public Foundation for the Promotion of Culture Akhsarbek Galazov, President Shirvani Chalayev, Project Manager Address: Seliverstov Pereulok 10, bld. 2 103045 Moscow RUSSIAN FEDERATION 3.2 Description The larger part of the initial material for implementation of the cultural and educational project ''Traditional Music of the Peoples of the Caucasus'' can be divided