Dutar making craftsmanship and traditional music performing art combined with singing is inscribed in 2021 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, as the 5th element of Turkmenistan at the 16th session of the intergovernmental committee for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage.
Dutar is a traditional instrument in Turkmenistan and is a long-necked, two-stringed lute with a pear-shaped body covered by a thin wooden sounding board. The craftmanship of making Dutar, the art of its performance and singing along with it is of a long-lasting tradition, mingled with life in Turkmenistan. As dutar is considered an inseparable part of Turkmen culture.
The instrument is used in all of the main genres of Turkmen music and singing. The music generated from Dutar are often categorize in two main types of: dutarchy, the music that is played alone, and bagshy, the music that is accompanied by singing.