YOL ft. Sevdâ Söğütlü | Labyrinth 26

Yol (Turkish for 'road') is a live performance in which spoken word and Anatolian music meet. Drawing from her musical heritage, Sevdâ writes spoken word texts that connect the past with the present. The performance is an ode to the songs that have shaped her and a quest for how music and poetry together create space for encounters between generations and cultures. Sevdâ Söğütlü is a spoken word artist and poet. She weaves love, philosophy, and multilingualism into a poetic and fluid whole. She became runner-up at the Gents Slampioenschap and won the Personality Award at the Spoken Awards in Rotterdam. Her poetry attempts to build bridges between words and music, across cultures and generations. Hilde De Clercq is a Belgian musician and performer specialized in Turkish and Arabic music. She sings and plays the darbuka, bendir, riq, oud, and piano, among other instruments. Mevlüt Akgüngör became passionate about music at an early age through his father, from whom he learned traditional and religious singing. He took saz lessons with De Centrale, but soon found his instrument in the ney, the Turkish reed flute that plays a central role in both Ottoman makam music and the Sufi tradition. İlhan Eken is a professional player of the bağlama, an iconic instrument within Anatolian folk and protest music.