Info
As a prodigy on the string instrument bağlama, Ata Canani pioneered German-language Turkish rock ‘n’ roll in the late 1970s, creating socially conscious tunes that reflected the discrimination and harsh living conditions faced by Turkish guest workers. This legend of Anatolian rock shows us how to live together in times of polarization — a coexistence made of songs and dancing.
Ata Canani not only switches between German and Turkish, but his music is also a call for empathy and involvement, encouraging you to understand the experiences of others. Whether he describes the experiences of guest workers and other migrants in German with humor and compassion, or reflects on the Sivas massacre of 1993 in Turkish, Ata Canani succeeds better than any historian in making you feel the significance of those events. But he also invites you to appreciate universal values that we in the West sometimes take for granted, such as democracy and peace.