Performing & Visual Arts
Erdem Pancarcı - Mythos of Aşık (London- Waltham Cross, Friday 9th January)
With Mythos of Âşık, musician and producer Erdem Pancarcı turns to one of the oldest yet most vibrant cultural narrative traditions of Anatolia and Mesopotamia: the Âşık tradition. This deeply rooted musical-poetic heritage—shaped by wandering musicians, storytellers, and spiritual seekers—is far more than a musical genre. It is a living form of cultural memory, a bridge between folk poetry, mysticism, and social reality.
In his new release, Pancarcı combines traditional instruments such as the Bağlama and Tembûr with a contemporary sonic aesthetic that subtly weaves in jazz, improvisation, and global musical influences. The songs speak of love, longing, justice, and spiritual devotion—timeless themes that have defined Âşık culture for centuries and resonate with renewed relevance today.
Mythos of Âşık is not a mere reproduction of folkloric forms, but an artistic exploration of a myth that has never lost its significance through the passage of time.
With this album, Pancarcı invites listeners to rediscover the figure of the Âşık—not only as a musician, but as a cultural vessel, chronicler, and spiritual companion—at a moment in history that longs more than ever for connection, depth, and authenticity.
