The Qawwali Project – An Untold Story

The Qawwali mehfils (assemblies) are held regularly at the many Sufi shrines, called Dargahs. One such impromptu haazri (singing) by the Qawwal is shot by the photographer and he explores the way people in the subcontinent express emotions in colour and the colour eventually becomes a part of their language and the visual frame of the image. The chorus of four or five men who repeat key verses follow the the lead Qawwal who leads the verse emotionally seeking the grace of the Almighty, they also follow his intense mood with their eyes on him and simultaneously aid the percussion by the rhythmic clapping of hands to create the ecstatic music .

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.