Ismail Aygün )Shivan Perwer) was born on September 23, 1955, in the village of Sori, in the Suruç district of Urfa province, Northern Kurdistan. He completed his primary, middle, and high school education in Urfa, studied mathematics at Ankara University, and married the singer Gulistan Perwer.
He began singing at a young age. When he was a sixth-grade student in the city of Urfa, he went on stage for the first time and sang. Later, during his university years in the city of Ankara, he continued to sing. In 1975, the defeat of the Aylul Revolution had a negative impact on Shivan Perwer and encouraged him to sing revolutionary songs to boost the morale of the Peshmerga and the people of Southern Kurdistan.
Shivan Perwer says: I never wanted to be a singer, but I wanted to study more to obtain a doctorate in mathematics and serve humanity in that field. A Kurdish singer in the Country of Turkey, instead of being welcomed, was imprisoned and tortured. Turkish art and singing in the Turkish language were, to me, selling out culture and authenticity and a betrayal of my nation, so I refused to sing in Turkish. But when I realized that the Kurdish nation loves music and songs, I realized that one can serve their nation through music. I set three goals: for the name of Kurdistan to become a love in Kurdish songs, for Kurdish art to find its place among world art and music so that it is valued, and I tried to put art at the service of the Kurds, Kurdistan, and its just cause. I decided to become an artist, but being an artist and singing in the Kurdish language in Turkey had no place in that country. I was forced to leave Turkey and became a refugee abroad.
In 1976, Shivan Perwer left the Country of Turkey and migrated to the Country of Germany, where he settled. He recorded his first music album officially there. From there, he went to the Country of Sweden and stayed in that country for 12 years. Then he went to the Country of Britain for four years, to the Country of France for two years, and lived in Belgium for a year. Finally, he returned to Germany and continued his art of singing. His anthems (Hevalê Bargiranm, Peshmerga, Ay Reqib, Kîne Em) were widely welcomed by the people of all four parts of Kurdistan. Shivan Perwer's music cassettes were passed around secretly among the people, from hand to hand, despite the risk of imprisonment or death. Because of the influence of his songs, many young Kurds joined the Kurdish revolutions in all four parts of Kurdistan, and many others were tortured in the prisons of the occupying countries until they passed away. For 25 years, Shivan Perwer's songs were banned in Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran because he sang in the Kurdish language, and often in his songs, he pointed out the oppression and injustice committed against the Kurdish people in the Middle East, the most prominent of which is Turkey.
In 1991, Shivan Perwer recorded a concert to support the refugees of Southern Kurdistan with the help of famous singers such as Chris de Burgh, Madonna, Rod Stewart, and several other international artists, and donated the proceeds to the refugees of Kurdistan. In 1999, he invited Abdullah Öcalan to go to Italy and start civil struggle there.
In 2004, Shivan Perwer founded a cultural and artistic organization in Germany and wanted to establish it in Sweden at the same time, but he did not succeed in that effort. On September 15, 2009, in Paris, France, with the help of Kendal Nezan and the Kurdish Institute, they established a television station in the Kurdish language. This television station worked and continued for three years. Shivan Perwer has sung in hundreds of Kurdish music festivals in European countries, America, Canada, Africa, Australia, and Southern Kurdistan. When Turkey opened up to the Kurdish issue, Shivan Perwer's songs were also freed. They also asked him to return to Turkey and visit Kurdistan, but Shivan Perwer did not respond to the Turkish government. Shivan says it had been 10 years that the Turkish government had been trying to get me to return, saying we are establishing a new system, so you should also return and serve the Country. I did not believe it; I thought that as long as the rights of the Kurds are not fixed in the Turkish constitution, I should not return. On January 16, 2013, on the orders of President Masoud Barzani, after 30 years of leaving Turkey, he returned. He was officially welcomed by Erdoğan and Turkish government officials and met with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In the city of Amed, he sang at a wedding ceremony organized for 300 brides and grooms in the presence of President Barzani and Erdoğan.
Shivan Perwer has produced more than thirty albums, clips, and documentary films, written several books, and published many other publications. Shivan Perwer has been engaged in the art of singing for more than forty years and has received several honorary doctorates and world music awards. The poems of the great Kurdish poet Cigerxwîn were the lyrics of his songs because Cigerxwîn is one of the great Kurdish poets, and his poems were nationalistic and well-known. Shivan Perwer was considered by the poet Cigerxwîn as the guardian of Kurdish culture and history. Shivan Perwer had a very close relationship with Hassan Abdulrahman Swari. Swari was one of the Kurdish nationalists and had a close relationship with most of the politicians and personalities of all parts of Kurdistan.
In return for the services that Shivan Perwer has provided to Kurdish art and music, he was one of the singers who played a major role and had a great influence on the Kurdistan liberation movement. On June 3, 2001, he was awarded the Barzani Medal by President Masoud Barzani.
Music albums:1- Govenda Azadîxwazan 1975
2- Hevalê Bargiranm 1976
3- Herne Pêş 1977
4- Ay Firat 1978
5- Kîne Em 1979
6- Hay Dil J 1980
7- Gelê Kurda Rabe 1981
8- Agirî 1982
9- Bilbilo Ferzê 1983
10- Dotmam 1985
11- Lê Dilberê 1986
12- Halabja 1988
13- Bilbila Dilşadî, Halabja 1988
14- Xewna Min 1991
15- Zembilfiroş 1992
16- Ya Star 1995
17- Nazê 1996
18- Hêvîyate 1999
19- Roj û Heyv 2000
20- Sarê 2001
21- Helbestên Bijartîyên 1 Krivê 2002
22- Helbestên Bijartîyên 2 Krivê 2003
23- Helbestên Bijartîyên 3, 2004
24- Min Bîrya Te Kiriye 2004
25- Dastana Rojava 2001
26- Shivanname, Gazind 2013
Kurdish source:- Archive of the Encyclopedia Board of Kurdistan Democratic Party.
- ^ Jump up to:a b "Med-Music on the move: Music of immigrants in Europe". Retrieved 7 January 2009.
- ^ "Iconic Kurdish musician returns to Turkey after 38 years of exile to 'sing for peace'". Hurriyet Daily News. 16 November 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Journalist, İrfan Aktan. "Lo şivano, 'kîne em?' - Ey şivan, biz kimiz?". BBC News Türkçe (in Turkish). Retrieved 26 September 2019.
- ^ MusicMoz - Bands and Artists: P: Perwer, Sivan: Biographies
- ^ Kiyak, Mely (27 October 2014). "Essay: Ihr werdet nie in Sicherheit sein". Spiegel Online. Vol. 44. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
- ^ "Sivan Perwer - PRI's The World". Retrieved 7 January 2009.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Reynolds, James (18 November 2013). "Returning hero divides Kurds". Retrieved 26 September 2019