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A documentary film by Gökhan Bulut and Cem Kaya
Camera: Tan Kurttekin
Arabesk (or: Arabesque), the 1970s and ‘80s subculture of Turkey’s rural refugees, was possibly the country’s most influential pop cultural revolution, if it can even be referred to as pop culture. Its influence was not confined to music, but like hip-hop extended to an entire way of life. Classic Arabesk music has changed over the years, spawning genres and subgenres which are heard in a wide range of Istanbul, their place of origin: for Arabesk has blossomed into Turkish pop, the most popular kind of music in Turkey.