A photo exhibition goes beyond music to show faces to many unknown qawwali artists
Electric, spirited and honest are some of the adjectives that we easily associate with qawwali performance. Can these feelings be captured through still images? Well, an ongoing photo exhibition at Delhi’s India International Center shows the moments when qawwals become the voice of hundreds of devotees who come to the temple to seek grace. Capturing artists at traditional performance venues is a reminder of how deep and deep the word we belong to this art form.
Conceived by Kathak exponent Manjari Chaturvedi, who has conducted extensive research on Sufi music as part of her decade-old qawwali project, the images capture practitioners with their families, in their daily lives and in their interactions with audiences.
Manjari describes the project as the first photographic document in the form of dwindling art. “The qawwals of the subcontinent have been largely faceless. Of course, people associate with their names and music, but not the faces of the artists. That is why this project was launched to showcase the real faces behind this music,” says Manjari.
Talents like Sonu Qadri and Niaz Warsi share a wall with stalwarts like Sabri, Warsi Brothers and Chanchal Bharti.
Manjari enlists three top photographers – Dinesh Khanna, Leena Kejriwal and Mustafa Qureshi – who bring an outsider’s perspective to the art form who migrated to India from Central Asia, but as Manjari puts it, the Indian diversity were soaked in the colours. than one.
The images depict how, over the years, the musical instrument has become an integral part of qawwali, attracting audiences from a cross-section of society. Qawwali not only appeals to the affluent who flock to the Nizamuddin Dargah, but it also reaches out to the marginalized in pilgrimage centers across the country. Consequently, the deep thoughts in the songs are expressed in the language of the common man, whether Lucknowi or Deccan Urdu, Punjabi or Awadhi.
Ustad Ranjan Ali performing at the Dargah of Baba Hussain Shah Qari at Raja Sansi, Amritsar. photo Credit: Dinesh Khanna
Manjari explains that the images of those practicing qawwali have been shot in an organic, non-commercial environment, among people.
While doing the project, Dinesh says that he found much more in qawwali than what he had seen in cinema and popular culture. “It took me to my roots in Punjab, where most of the shrines are patronized by Sikhs and Bulleh Shah’s kalam in Punjabi basically finds its way into qawwali.” In fact, one of his most enduring images is that of Ustad Ranjhan Ali performing at the Dargah of Baba Hussain Shah Qadri in Raja Sansi city of Amritsar, where temple bells can be seen in the background.
Leena Reveals The First Qawwali She Covered At Nizamuddin Dargah And How “Beautiful” mauli (atmosphere) and energy” inspired him as a photographer. “I realized that I didn’t want to make my images too static. The air gets charged, especially during Urs (the death anniversary of a Sufi saint),” says Leena, who wrote her seminal work ‘Calcutta: Repossessing the City. ‘ is known for.
Dinesh, the co-founder of the Delhi Photo Festival, says he still hasn’t got an answer on how such an energetic art form can be turned into a still image, but notes that instead of a photograph, it should be taken as a picture. As should be seen. A series of images that make up a photo story.
Women artists have traditionally been excluded from qawwali, and Manjari cites the legend of two (two and a half) qalandars associated with three Sufi saints – Hazrat Lal Shahbaz, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharfuddin and Hazrat Rabia Basri. “Male sages have two kalandars, while Rabias are only half because of their gender. So it is important to document the work of women artistes who are breaking down barriers to perform qawwali.”
Leena brings this aspect to the fore through her vibrant images. She went to Muzaffarpur in Bihar after Chanchal Bharti. “It took me to a part of the world that I would not otherwise visit. When I reached there, his qawwali started late at night. It gave me enough time to move around and feel the atmosphere. It was a temple visited by people of different religions. The devotion with which the qawwal and the audience immersed themselves in the music was mesmerizing. In another example, one morning, Leena was photographed performing at Hazrat Inayat Khan Dargah in New Delhi, wearing scarves and lipstick around the neck of young girls. “Excited, I captured it on my camera both before and after the performance. It was a beautiful experience.”
Technology, as Manjari says, sometimes dehumanizes music, makes us forget the artist and remember only the sound. This exhibition removed some of the oblivion that surrounded qawwali singers.
(The qawwali photo project can be viewed at the India International Centre, New Delhi till November 28.)
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