Manjari Chaturvedi has taken her obsession with classical dance and turned it into more than expression: in her hands, it is cultural renaissance and syncretism; narrative form and dialogue.

Nothing is more evocative of this than “The Courtesan Project”, a unique research and documentation exercise via which Manjari seeks to chronicle the historically remarkable role of the ‘tawaif’ in artistic life: as muse to poets and painters, writers and kings, musicians and leaders.

And in so doing, she seeks to claim for these maligned women the reverence due them for their learning and their performance art; their intelligence and wit; their talent and raw sensual power."

This project is a medium to draw the attention of the society towards our erstwhile courtesans and how discriminatory practices impacted NOT only their life but also of their families