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{{short description|British poet, artist, and musician (born 1960)}}
{{Redirect|Durtro|the Tibetan word durtrö|charnel ground}}
{{not to be confused with|David Kibet|David Tebet}}

{{BLP sources|date=April 2015}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = David Tibet
| image           = Current 93 at All Tomorrow's Parties 17 May 2007.jpg
| caption         = David Tibet performing with Current 93 in 2007.
| image_size      = <!-- Only for images narrower than 220 pixels -->
| birth_name      = David Michael Bunting
| alias           =
| birth_date      = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1960|3|5}}
| birth_place     = [[Batu Gajah]], [[Malaysia]]
| death_date      =
| origin          = England
| instrument      =
| genre           = {{hlist|[[Neofolk]]|[[Psychedelic folk|psychedelic folk]]|[[Noise music|noise]]|[[List of industrial music genres|post-industrial]]}}
| occupation      = {{hlist|Musician|poet|songwriter}}
| years_active    =
| label           = {{hlist|Durtro|Jnana|Coptic Cat}}
| current_member_of = {{hlist|[[Current 93]]|Nodding God|Hypnopazūzu|Myrninerest}}
| past_member_of = {{hlist|[[Death in June]]|[[Nurse with Wound]]|[[Psychic TV]]|[[The Nodding Folk]]}}
| website         = [http://www.davidtibet.com/ Davidtibet.com]
}}

'''David Tibet''' (born '''David Michael Bunting'''; 5 March 1960)<ref name=":0">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Current 93 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Popular Music |year=2006 |last=Larkin |first=Colin |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095653917 |access-date=2021-03-17 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195313734.001.0001 |isbn=9780195313734 |archive-date=10 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610001923/https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095653917 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> is an English musician, poet and songwriter. He is best known as the founder and sole constant member of the [[Neofolk|neofolk]] group [[Current 93]], as well as for his contributions to the band [[Death in June]].

==Biography==
David Bunting was born to British parents in [[Batu Gajah]], [[Perak]], [[Malaysia]].<ref name=":0" /> His father had fought in [[World War II]] and was among the soldiers who liberated the [[Bergen-Belsen concentration camp]].<ref name="u762">{{cite web | title=Hitler As Kalki | website=Brainwashed | date=1992-07-20 | url=https://www.brainwashed.com/common/htdocs/discog/durtro014.php?site=c93 | access-date=2024-06-10}}</ref> He lived in Malaysia until 1970, when he was sent to England to attend the (at the time all-boys) [[Red House, Moor Monkton|Red House Preparatory School]], an experience he has spoken poorly of.<ref name="z359">{{cite web | last=Tibet | first=David | title=Your History: David Tibet | website=Dazed | date=2013-07-05 | url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/16571/1/your-history-david-tibet | access-date=2024-06-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhXVxyJjsUg  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/YhXVxyJjsUg |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Who is David Tibet - Documentary - ReyPack Creative|website=[[YouTube]] |date=25 December 2019 |accessdate= 2 January 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He attended [[Newcastle University]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Parsons|first=Gary|date=April 1997|title=INTERVIEW WITH DAVID TIBET OF CURRENT 93|url=http://www.fluxeuropa.com/c93-interview.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041018231233/http://www.fluxeuropa.com/c93-interview.htm|archive-date=2004-10-18|access-date=2021-03-16|website=FluxEuropa}}</ref>

He was given the name "Tibet" by [[Genesis P-Orridge]] while working with [[Psychic TV]] in the early '80s. In January 2005 he announced that he would revert to the name David Michael, although he continues to use the well-known "Tibet" in his public career to date.

Around 2000, he suffered a near-fatal case of [[appendicitis]].<ref name="r166">{{cite web | last=Pecoraro | first=David M. | title=Nurse With Wound & Current 93: Bright Yellow Moon | website=Pitchfork | date=2002-04-07 | url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5868-bright-yellow-moon/ | access-date=2024-08-13}}</ref>

In 2009, he completed a MA degree in [[Coptic Language]] and Grammar through [[Macquarie University]].<ref name="z940">{{cite web | title=David Tibet | website=Mythology Agency | date=2023-10-10 | url=https://mythology-live.com/davidtibet/ | access-date=2024-07-01}}</ref><ref name="g592">{{cite web | title=The Team | website=Coptic Magical Papyri | date=2018-11-20 | url=https://www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/index.php/the-team/ | access-date=2024-07-01}}</ref>

David was married to the musician and artist Andria Degens, known as "Pantaleimon", who contributed to Current 93 albums between 1996 and 2009.<ref name="u947">{{cite web | title=Bio | website=Pantaleimon | date=2024-07-19 | url=https://pantaleimon.com/bio | access-date=2024-07-28}}</ref> They divorced around 2010.<ref name="z359"/> He lives in [[Hastings]] with his partner Ania Goszczyńska, an illustrator.<ref name="j482">{{cite web | title=David Tibet on Instagram: "I and Belovèd Polka @aniagoszczynska at the Fabulous @maggiesfishandchipshastings; and I with our dear friend Katherine, KitQueen Of Cats, in the final photo. C93 Crest93 SpaceBallRichochet Cap Coming Soon by @crest_clothing. @anokpopart @goszcz_com ⲟⲩϫⲁⲓ ϩ︥ⲙ︤ ⲡϫⲟⲉⲓⲥ ⲁⲙⲏⲛ אמן." | website=Instagram | date=2024-06-25 | url=https://www.instagram.com/davidtibet_current93/p/C8oWcpeCqn5/ | access-date=2024-07-01}}</ref>

The Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections at the [[Cornell University Library]] holds his archives through 2013.<ref name="t569">{{cite web | title=Guide to the David Tibet Current 93 archive, 1960s-circa 2013. | website=Rare and Manuscript Collections | date=2008-04-14 | url=https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM08457.html | access-date=2024-06-10}}</ref>

=== Beliefs and influences ===
Tibet was first exposed to [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], and [[Taoism]] in Malaysia. He also showed an interest in esoteric Christianity from an early age, and still identifies as a Christian.<ref name=pf>{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/6426-current-93/ |title=Interviews: Current 93 |publisher=Pitchfork |date=11 September 2006 |access-date=22 December 2011 |archive-date=13 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111213153227/http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/6426-current-93/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>  

Tibet's mysticism is derived from such varied fields as religion, philosophy, witchcraft, poetry and painting. As his stage name suggests, he has [[Vajrayana]] Buddhist leanings, and regards the legendary tantric figure [[Padmasambhava]] as his own tutor. His album ''Buddhist Monks of the Maitri Vihar Monastery'' (1997) reflects his interest in Tibetan Buddhism. He also has longstanding interests in [[Christian mysticism]] and [[esoteric Christianity]], especially [[Christian eschatology]], and his lyrical subject matter reflects a consistent preoccupation with such [[apocalypse|apocalyptic]] imagery as death, loss, and destruction. Other influences include [[Gnosticism]], [[Austin Osman Spare]], and a variety of [[occult]] topics.

His interest in [[Aleister Crowley]] and [[Thelema]] began at age 11 when he purchased ''[[The Diary of a Drug Fiend]]'' at [[Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport]] in [[Kuala Lumpur]].<ref name="z359" /> Thelemic concepts appear  aspects of the covers, lyrics and themes of Current 93 (including the group's name itself). The initial recording of Current 93, [[LAShTAL]], was, according to Tibet, "the invocation of ''Malkunofath'' on the Nightside of [[Garden of Eden|Eden]], the reverse of the [[Tree of Life]]". Despite his continuing appreciation for Crowley as an individual, Tibet has since distanced himself from Crowleyanity. In April 2006, [[Ordo Templi Orientis]] formed the International OTO Cabinet, an advisory, non-voting panel made up of both OTO Initiates and Non-Initiates. Tibet was named among the initial non-member appointments.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oto.org/news0806.html |title=Ordo Templi Orientis |publisher=Oto.org |date=2006-08-31 |access-date=2015-04-30 |archive-date=22 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222142733/http://www.oto.org/news0806.html |url-status=live }}</ref> 

Although collaborators such as [[Douglas P.]] and [[Boyd Rice]] have alleged [[neo-Nazi]] connections, Tibet himself has referred to [[Hitler]] as the [[antichrist]] and dedicated the Current 93 song "Hitler as [[Kalki]]" to "my father who fought Hitler".<ref name="u762" /><ref name="z728">{{cite web | last=Stosuy | first=Brandon | title=Current 93: Thunder Perfect Mind | website=Pitchfork | date=2004-02-05 | url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/1750-thunder-perfect-mind/ | access-date=2024-06-10}}</ref>

==Music==
{{main|Current 93}}
After leaving university, he worked with [[Psychic TV]] and [[23 Skidoo (band)|23 Skidoo]]. He is credited on the Psychic TV albums ''[[Force the Hand of Chance]]'' and ''[[Dreams Less Sweet]]''. Tibet left Psychic TV in 1983 and founded Current 93, of which he is the only constant member. Current 93's initial recordings consisted largely of harsh, repetitive [[Industrial music|industrial]] [[noise music|noise]] and [[dark ambient]] soundscapes. Under the influence of [[Death in June]], Tibet began incorporating [[neo-folk]] elements that would come to dominate Current 93's music.

Tibet has had a reciprocal relationship with other musicians and groups. [[Steven Stapleton]] of [[Nurse With Wound]] appeared on nearly every Current 93 release until 2010, while Tibet has appeared on many Nurse With Wound releases and collaborations with Stapleton. Death in June members [[Douglas P.]] and [[Tony Wakeford]] appeared on Current 93 releases from 1987 until 1993, while Tibet was a member of Death in June from the mid-'80s to 1995. Many other mutual collaborators, such as [[Jhonn Balance]] of [[Coil (band)|Coil]], were also part of the community surrounding Psychic TV.

== Visual arts ==
Tibet is an established visual artist with much of his work in well-known galleries such as the Henry Boxer Gallery and Isis Gallery.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.outsiderart.co.uk/tibet.html |title=David Tibet : Henry Boxer Gallery - Visionary Artist |publisher=Outsiderart.co.uk |access-date=2015-04-30 |archive-date=26 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726040745/http://www.outsiderart.co.uk/tibet.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> His exhibitions include:

* Isis Gallery, London (2008)
* [[Den Frie Centre Of Contemporary Art]], Copenhagen (2009)<ref name="n476">{{cite web | title=Den Frie Udstilling 2009 | website=MutualArt | date=2024-07-01 | url=https://www.mutualart.com/Exhibition/Den-Frie-Udstilling-2009/26A80E2A7D5BA716 | access-date=2024-07-01}}</ref>
* "Magog at the Maypole (Sex of Stars)", White Columns, NYC (2012)<ref name="f399">{{cite web | title=White Room: David Tibet / "Magog at the Maypole (Sex of Stars)" | website=White Columns | url=https://whitecolumns.org/exhibitions/david-tibet-magog-at-the-maypole-sex-of-stars/ | access-date=2024-07-01}}</ref>
* "Invocation of Almost", [[California State University, Fullerton]] (2019)<ref>{{cite web | title=Invocation of Almost: The Art of David Tibet | website=Achieve Greatness | date=2019-03-09 | url=https://www.fullerton.edu/arts/art/begovich_gallery/past_exhibitions/2018-2019/invocation-of-almost.php | ref={{sfnref | Achieve Greatness | 2019}} | access-date=2024-07-01}}</ref>

==Publishing==
Tibet has created a series of record labels and small publishing houses under the names Maldoror (referring to ''[[Les Chants de Maldoror]]''), Durtro (from the Tibetan word for [[charnel ground]]), [[Jnana]] Records, Coptic Cat, The Spheres, Ghost Story Press, and Cashen's Gap (named for the home of [[Gef]]). These businesses publish and release his own work, as well as the work of artists he has collaborated with or has an interest in. The first album by [[Antony And The Johnsons]] was released by Durtro. Together with Mark Logan, he curated the 2006 five-CD compilation ''[[Not Alone (album)|Not Alone]]'' to raise funds for [[Médecins Sans Frontières]].

Tibet's 'The Moons At Your Door,' an anthology of 'strange tales that influenced' Tibet illustrated by his own artwork, was released in Paperback Edition in March 2016.<ref>{{cite web|title=David Tibet's The Moons At Your Door Paperback Edition Currently Available|url=https://heathenharvest.org/2016/03/25/david-tibets-the-moons-at-your-door-paperback-edition-currently-available/|access-date=26 March 2016|archive-date=26 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326102319/https://heathenharvest.org/2016/03/25/david-tibets-the-moons-at-your-door-paperback-edition-currently-available/|url-status=dead|website=[[Heathen Harvest]]}}</ref> He also was the editor of a follow-up anthology of supernatural short stories, titled "There is a Graveyard that Dwells in Man" published in 2020.<ref>{{cite web|title=There Is a Graveyard That Dwells in Man Paperback Edition|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/663096/there-is-a-graveyard-that-dwells-in-man-by-edited-by-david-tibet/|access-date=18 July 2023|archive-date=18 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230718023004/https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/663096/there-is-a-graveyard-that-dwells-in-man-by-edited-by-david-tibet/|url-status=live}}</ref> 

===Musicians===
{{div col |colwidth=15em}}
* [[Arthur Doyle]]
* [[Bill Fay]]
* [[Charlemagne Palestine]]
* [[Chris Connelly (musician)|Chris Connelly]]
* [[Comus (band)|Comus]]
* [[Little Annie]]
* [[Magick Lantern Cycle]]
* [[Marc Almond]]
* [[Othon Mataragas]]
* [[Paul Wallfisch]]
* [[Sand (band)|Sand]]
* [[Sebastian Horsley]]
* [[Sharron Kraus]]
* [[Shirley and Dolly Collins]]
* [[Simon Finn (musician)|Simon Finn]]
* [[Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson]]
* [[Tiny Tim (musician)|Tiny Tim]]
* [[Xhol Caravan]]
* [[Rudimentary Peni]]
* [[William Basinski]]
{{div col end}}

===Writers===
Most writers below are authors of [[Supernatural fiction|supernatural]] and [[horror fiction]].
{{div col |colwidth=15em}}
* [[Arthur Gray (Master of Jesus)|Arthur Gray]]
* [[Count Stenbock]]
* [[H. D. Everett]]
* [[Hesketh Hesketh-Prichard]]
* [[June-Alison Gibbons]]
* [[M. R. James]] 
* [[Madge Gill]] 
* [[Nick Blinko]] 
* [[Robert Aickman]]
* [[Ron Weighell]]
* [[Thomas Ligotti]]
* [[Vincent O'Sullivan (American writer)|Vincent O'Sullivan]]
{{div col end}}

== Discography ==
{{main|Current 93#Discography}}

=== As David ===
* ''Ferelith'' (2020)
* ''Fontelautus'' (2020)

=== With Myrninerest ===
* ''"Jhonn," Uttered Babylon'' (2012) (with [[James Blackshaw]])
* ''Journey To Avebury'' (2012) (with [[James Blackshaw]], [[Michael Cashmore]], and [[Andrew Liles]])

=== With others ===
* [[The Nodding Folk]] – ''The Apocalyptic Folk in The Nodding God Unveiled'' (1993). This album was accompanied by a comic book of Tibet's making.
* [[Aethenor]] – ''Anthracite'' (2008)<ref name="j030">{{cite web | title=ULVER Frontman To Join ÆTHENOR At ROADBURN 2008 | website=BLABBERMOUTH.NET | date=2007-12-21 | url=https://blabbermouth.net/news/ulver-frontman-to-join-thenor-at-roadburn | access-date=2024-08-31}}</ref>
* [[Aethenor]] – ''Faking Gold and Murder'' (2008)<ref name="j030" />
* [[Skitliv]] – ''Skandinavisk misantropi'' (2009) (vocals)
* [[Andrew Liles]] – "[[Love Will Tear Us Apart]]", on ''The Post Romantic Empire Album'' (2012) (vocals, with [[Annabella Lwin]])<ref name="r546">{{cite web | title=The Post Romantic Empire Album | website=Andrew Liles | date=2024-08-12 | url=https://www.andrewliles.com/discography/various-%E2%80%8Ethe-post-romantic-empire-album/ | access-date=2024-08-12}}</ref>
* Hypnopazūzu (David Tibet & [[Youth (musician)|Youth]]) – ''Create Christ, Sailor Boy'' (2016)
* Zu93 (David Tibet & [[Zu (band)|Zu]]) – ''Mirror Emperor'' (2017)
* [[These New Puritans]] – ''[[Inside the Rose]]'' (2019) (vocals)<ref name="a851">{{cite web | title=These New Puritans | website=Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews | date=2019-03-21 | url=https://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/these-new-puritans-inside-the-rose/ | access-date=2024-08-31}}</ref>
* Nodding God – ''Play Wooden Child'' (2019) (vocals in [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]], with [[Andrew Liles]] and 'Underage Shaitan Boy').<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-07-31|title=Nodding God 'Play Wooden Child'|url=https://www.popmatters.com/nodding-god-play-wooden-child-2639519454.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-16|website=[[PopMatters]]|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801002955/https://www.popmatters.com/nodding-god-play-wooden-child-2639519454.html |archive-date=1 August 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Clarke|first=Patrick|date=2019-05-09|title=Nodding God Play Wooden Child|url=https://thequietus.com/articles/26443-nodding-god-play-wooden-child|access-date=2021-03-16|website=The Quietus|language=en-us|archive-date=10 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610002021/https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/nodding-god-play-wooden-child/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book | editor-last=Faber | editor-first=Michael | last=Tibet | first=David | editor-last2=Wodlicka | editor-first2=Tod | title=Some Gnostic Cartoons | date=2008 | isbn=978-0-9558774-2-1| publisher=Isis Editions (London)}}
* {{cite book | author-last=Tibet | author-first=David|title=Sing Omega: Collected Writings and Lyrics from 2013—1983|year=2014|publisher=The Spheres}}
* {{cite book | editor-last=Boud'hors | editor-first=Anne| editor-link=Anne Boud'hors|editor-last2=Delattre | editor-first2=Alain| editor-last3=Louis | editor-first3=Catherine | editor-last4=Richter | editor-first4=Tonio Sebastian | title=Coptica argentoratensia: textes et documents de la troisième université d'été de papyrologie copte (Strasbourg, 18-25 juillet 2010) | publisher=De Boccard | publication-place=Paris | date=2014 | isbn=978-2-7018-0372-2 | chapter=A Magical Request for Revelation (P. Stras. Inv. Kopt. 550)|first=David|last=Tibet|volume=19|series=Cahiers de la Bibliothèque copte|issn=1968-3553}}

=== Editor ===
* {{cite book | last=Stenbock | first=Eric Stanislaus | author-link=Eric Stenbock| editor-last=Tibet | editor-first=David | title=The Collected Poems of Count Stenbock|year=2001|publisher=Durtro Press}}
* {{cite book | first=Madge |last=Gill |author-link=Madge Gill |editor-last=Tibet | editor-first=David | title=Myrninerest|year=2013|editor-last2=Boxer|editor-first2=Henry|publisher=The Spheres}}
* {{cite book | editor-last=Tibet | editor-first=David | title=The Moons at Your Door: An Anthology of Hallucinatory Tales | publisher=National Geographic Books | date=2016-09-25 | isbn=978-1-907222-42-9 | page=}}
* {{cite book | last=Stenbock | first=Eric Stanislaus | title=Of Kings and Things | publisher=MIT Press | date=2020-06-23 | isbn=978-1-913689-07-0 | page=}}
*{{cite book | editor-last=Tibet | editor-first=David | title=There Is a Graveyard That Dwells in Man: More Strange Fiction and Hallucinatory Tales | publisher=MIT Press | date=2020-09-08 | isbn=978-1-913689-17-9 | page=}}
*{{cite book | last=Gibbons | first=June-Alison |author-link=June and Jennifer Gibbons | title=The Pepsi Cola Addict | publisher=MIT Press | date=2023-05-30 | isbn=978-1-913689-72-8 | page=}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Keenan, David (2003) ''England's Hidden Reverse: a secret history of the esoteric underground'', London: SAF Publishing.

==External links==
*[http://www.davidtibet.com/ David Tibet's official website]


{{Current 93}}
{{Death in June}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tibet, David}}
[[Category:1960 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:British poets]]
[[Category:British industrial musicians]]
[[Category:People educated at Red House School]]
[[Category:Alumni of Newcastle University]]
[[Category:Macquarie University alumni]]
[[Category:British outsider artists]]
[[Category:British Christians]]
[[Category:British folk singers]]
[[Category:Neofolk musicians]]
[[Category:British male poets]]
[[Category:Current 93 members]]
[[Category:Death in June members]]