Photographers DINESH KHANNA, MUSTAFA QURAISHI and LEENA KEJRIWAL have come together to exhibit their work for the Qawwali Photo Project in IIC. Team Viva discovers that this is the first time that this form of traditional devotional singing has been documented, as it exists today
. The Qawwali Photo Project is the first-ever photo documentation and exhibition on Qawwali. It is an initiative meticulously conceptualised, 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. The images of practitioners with their families, in their everyday lives and in their interaction with audiences and the pulsating connection of energy between them.
The Qawwals become the voice of the many prayers of the hundreds of devotees that throng the shrine, seeking grace. The Qawwals of the subcontinent have largely remained faceless, of course, a name and music that people associate with, but not the face of the man. This is what led to the formation of this project, say the people behind it, to show the real faces who lend their voices to this music. These musicians come from families where artistic knowledge and practice has been passed down for generations as a precious heirloom. Art is how they connect with themselves, their communities, and their sense of spiritual purpose. The technology at times dehumanises the music form, removes the human and only the sound becomes a memory. This project gives the image to the sounds, the identity to the people who give us the incredible music. The Qawwals.
Dinesh Khanna’s stories traverse the important shrines of Delhi, Amritsar, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Ajmer and bring out the intricacies of traditions as an integral part of the music at the shrines. The Qawwals give him a peek into their own lives as he follows them at various places. The Qawwals believe they are in service of the Sufi saints and would take their message of love forward. Dinesh explores them in resplendent colours and the darker tones of a bygone era, as they celebrate their performance art of Qawwali.
Mustafa Quraishi’s photo story is shot in the two prominent shrines of Dewa Sharif and Safipur ironically linked to each other. Interestingly as an oral narrative, it is said that when Waris Ali Shah the saint from Dewa, was born, his father Qurban Ali Shah was 90 kilometres away in Safipur at the Shrine where he was informed with a famous prophecy that his son will become one of the biggest spiritual saints of the region. With equal aplomb, Mustafa explores the resistance at Delhi and the complete serenity and grandeur of the grace of Hazrat Salim Chisti.
Leena Kejriwal’s story captures the interesting deviation from the tradition, the presence of women Qawwali performers. In a largely androcentric performance art, it is important to document the women breaking barriers and participating in performing this music. The story continues where the Qawwals at the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia at Delhi are captured as they sing in their daily rituals not as a performance but as a prayer to their Pir. The association of each Qawwali to their shrine is intense and generational.
I Am A Qawwal at the Qawwali Photo Project
I Am A Qawwal, as the name suggests, is a unique self-documentation project. in which the Qawwalli practitioners take their own selfie photos, or have friends take their photos and send to us for documentation in the belief that this provides a perspective in which we see them comfortable, in their element, not posing woodenly for a professional shoot.
“Often, the Qawwal’s families themselves do not have quality photographs of themselves or their forefathers who came before them. During the archiving of Qawwals when I would ask for images of legendary Qawwals from small towns there were no images, just some random passport pics or blurred images of their youth,” shares Manjri Chaturvedi, the renowned Kathak dancer, who pioneered I Am A Qawwal.
“You don’t document us. We will document us.”
It is a strong statement by Qawwals. The self-photographs we have received reveal something about the various characters of these men who are so integral to carrying on this generations-long androcentric performance tradition. Some are old, some are barely past boyhood. Seeing these pictures, we get a rare glimpse into their lives as viewed on their own terms.