Ali Doğan Gönültaş

Ali Doğan Gönültaş is a big name in Turkey as a singer and musician in the band Ze Tijê, as a composer for film soundtracks and as a television producer. His debut album 'Kiğı', released in 2022, is an unusual project: it is the result of more than ten years of ethnomusical field research by the trained archaeologist and media scientist and takes a very personal look at 150 years of musical history in his Anatolian birthplace of Kiğı. It is a project close to his heart, with which Gönültaş creates a form of musical remembrance work based on oral history.

In his songs, he draws on musical forms such as the traditional folk dance of Kurdistan, the govend, as well as laments and work songs, xerîbîyê and forms of prayer with their regional characteristics. All songs reflect the tradition of singing storytelling and Kiğı's multilingualism in Krmancki, Kurmanci, Kirdaski, Armenian and Turkish. The album was number 1 in the Balkan World Music Charts and, like the charismatic musician's live performances, was acclaimed by international audiences and critics.