Culture

Since the national territory of Tukastan did not form a homogeneous unit in historical time, the commitment to an artistic regional history is only partially possible. Due to Persian influence, however, the roots of Tukastan culture can be traced back to Persian culture. The Islamic influence and the resulting prohibition of pictures have led to the fact that no tradition of painting or sculpture has developed. The design with ornamentation showed both Arab influences and Chinese-Asian influences, above all because of the mixture of cultural influences along the Silk Road.

Due to the prohibition of pictorial representation, ornamentation also developed in arts and crafts, for example in pottery and metallic objects. These are mainly artistically decorated jugs, pots, plates and drinking vessels. These skills were mostly lost during the Soviet era, so that corresponding objects are now partly imported from China in an attempt to return to historical values.

The same applies to carvings, because the decoration of wooden doors with extensive ornamentation was widespread until the Russian occupation of Tukastan in the 19th century. In the rural regions, the knowledge of this art of craftsmanship has partly been preserved.

Traditional music and dance have a rich heritage in Tukastan. Classical Tukastan music can be roughly divided into the traditional Persian-Central Asian style (Shashmaqam) and the Russian influenced style with operas and symphonies composed during the Soviet era.

The traditional Persian-Central Asian style is based on three instrument groups: wooden or sounding drums, lute-like stringed instruments and wooden flutes. The drums are used for rhythmic accompaniment of singing and instrumental pieces. The lute-like stringed instruments exist in numerous regional variations, whereby the strings are partly torn with the fingers or played with a bow. The wooden flutes are mainly flutes with a high pitched sound. Keyboard instruments are traditionally not available.

The traditional singing is performed by men and women, whereby both solo pieces and choral singing exist. The basic colouring of the songs is rather melancholic in the mountain regions and more lively in the southern regions with a stronger Persian influence.

In the meantime, young Tukastan musicians, inspired by the tolerated foreign party music during the Tukastan Beach Party, have also composed songs with influences of modern pop music, mainly Pakistani and Indian influenced pop music, in recent times also Iranian influenced pop music.