The Qawwali Project – An Untold Story

The Qawwals sit cross-legged on the ground usually in two rows with the lead singer, side singers and harmonium players in the front row, and the chorus and percussionists in the back row. The interesting addition to this party is the presence of the young woman in this rural Punjab traditional setting. In the past, women were generally excluded from traditional Qawwali music, since they were prohibited from singing in the presence of men. Even now, Qawwali is still mostly kept as a fiercely androcentric tradition.

The Qawwali Project, is an initiative conceptualized by Manjari Chaturvedi where the untold story of Qawwali unfolds through the eyes of photographers. The practitioners are photo-documented with their performance art, their lives and their association with the Sufi shrines where they perform. Qawwali is the performance art and Qawwal is the practitioner. This is an attempt by the Sufi Kathak Foundation to document the traditions as they exist at the shrines itself.