The Ministry of Culture of Belarus has sent a dossier of intangible historical and cultural value “Culture of the Belarusian Duda” to the secretariat of the Convention on the Protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO.
As reported by the BelTA news agency, the materials were prepared this year.
In 2023 the Ministry of Culture of Belarus recognized the culture of the Belarusian duda as a national historical and cultural value.
The Belarusian duda is a wind reed instrument consisting of a leather bag, a melodic pipe (pipe, bust), one or two bass pipes (sound, bass or bourdon), and a tube for inflating air (nipple, sapel). It has been mentioned in Old Belarusian literature since the XV century. The first iconographic sources of duda in Belarus date back to the XVI century, when bagpipes of German design expanded on the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
The Belarusian duda is widespread in the territories of Vitsiebsk, Grodna, Homel, Mahiliou and Minsk regions.
In December 2022, the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO included the “Straw weaving of Belarus: art, craft, skills”.