By Sarah King - Carleton College News - Northfield, MN, U.S.A.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Distinguished Turkish singer, composer, and scholar Latif Bolat will present a talk entitled “Islam and Its Mystical Path: Sufism” at 5 p.m. Friday, April 13 in Carleton’s Gould Library Athenaeum.
Bolat will also perform the following day, Saturday, April 14, in the College’s Severance Great Hall at 7 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.
Bolat is one of the most renowned Turkish musicians in North America. He performs around the world and his vast repertoire includes classical and folk music as well as his specialty, the ancient Turkish mystic-devotional music of Sufism.
Sufism is a mystic tradition developed by Muslims and practiced worldwide.
“The essence of Sufi practice is quite simple,” says Dr. Alan Godlas of the University of Georgia. “The Sufi surrenders to God, in love, over and over. This involves embracing with love at each moment the content of one's consciousness—one's perceptions, thoughts, and feelings, as well as one's sense of self—as gifts of God or, more precisely, as manifestations of God.”
Bolat’s lecture will bring to light a new perspective on Islam and Sufism, focusing on the Sufi devotional practices of music, dance, and rituals.
He will address the sociopolitical and cultural qualities of Turkish music in the context of contemporary Turkish politics and culture.
In performance, Bolat continues the theme, encouraging the audience to consider how major sociopolitical forces influence culture and the art it produces. The intimate atmosphere of Bolat’s musical performance will be enhanced by a backdrop of photographic slides depicting images of the landscape, cities, artwork, architecture, and people of Turkey.
A native of the Mediterranean town of Mersin, Turkey, Bolat received his degree in folklore and music from Gazi University in Ankara, Turkey. In addition to teaching traditional music throughout the country, he later managed the Anakara Halk Tiyatrosu, a Turkish musical theater company.
For more information about Bolat’s lecture and performance, contact Carleton’s office of intercultural life at (507) 646-4495.
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