Halaken Collective is the birthplace of a global collective of creators united by the power of art for change. It is a multi-media label intent on cultivating a platform to bridge East and West, the traditional and progressive, the magnificent and unnoticed through music and video.
A platform where artists of all disciplines connected by values collaborate to create meaningful art with a consciousness for the social, environmental and humanitarian challenges facing todays world.
Mercan Dede is a Turkish Canadian musician, DJ, composer, visual artist and all round master of creative exploration. Throughout the 2000s, he pioneered the merging of traditional eastern sounds with electronic music and dance culture, and has since toured internationally with his unique ensembles comprised of world class musicians and performers. He has appeared at festivals like Montreux Jazz Fest, The World Roots Fest, Montreal Jazz Festival and WOMEX among countless others. Despite almost constantly being on tour, the years since his last musical release have been spent working on new multi-media projects and concepts, always pushing the boundaries, evolving his art and connecting his voice to meaning and value.Among the feathers in his cap, the 7th of his 8 solo albums, ‘800’ won best world music album of the year at Womex in 2007, he has scored and contributed music to a number of feature films, collaborated with contemporary dance icons including Pina Bausch and Louise Lecavalier, and he has co produced and worked with the likes of Ludovico Einaudi and Bauhaus’s Peter Murphy.
Sydney Born, Montreal based and inspired by nomadic exploration in the space between, Dexter is a hybrid creative and artist specialising in DJing and electronic music production.
His introduction to the music industry came through university radio which facilitated a connection to the Montreal house and techno community, eventually leading to a position as a radio host, label manager and graphic designer at the Montreal based music platform, When We Dip. He has performed at revered venues and events across Montreal including Stereobar, Piknic Elektronik and PY1 nights and has worked in collaboration with Mercan Dede in various music and video projects as an artist, video editor and sound designer.
