New Doha museum Lawh Wa Qalam celebrates Indian art legend

On the outskirts of Doha, a new gray-blue building rises like a drawing on its skyline, its shimmering tiles changing with the sun and casting geometric shadows.

The building appears to be leaning forward, as if eager to tell a story.

In a video from Pen and Pad Museum, the world’s first museum dedicated to MF Hussain, we see glimpses of the extraordinary work of the late legendary Indian artist, whose prolific paintings and turbulent personal history transfixed the world.

The museum honors the legacy of the artist, who spent his final years in Qatar and obtained citizenship in 2010.

The building extends over an area of ​​​​more than 3,000 square meters, and was opened to visitors last week, and is part of the expanded campus of Qatar Foundation’s Education City, an educational and research center.

Inside, more than 150 works and objects – including paintings, sculptures, films, furnishings and photographs – chart the astonishing scope of Hussein’s career, offering visitors a rare window into the artist’s late-life musings and inspirations.

Nouf Mohammed, the museum’s curator, says Hussein always wanted his museum to feel like home. “We want visitors to experience the world as he did, in an intimate, playful and contemplative way.”

Few artists have traveled as widely or as imaginatively as Hussein. His horses – muscular and dynamic – remain some of the most valuable and instantly recognizable paintings in contemporary art, selling for millions of dollars.

Often described as having a nomadic and bohemian personality, the artist seamlessly engaged with Cubist-inspired modernism and traditional Indian themes, creating bold, vibrant paintings with scenes from history and mythology.

His distinctive style earned him the nickname “Picasso of India”. He also directed two Bollywood films, but they failed at the box office.

Hussein was never without controversy. His paintings depicting naked Hindu deities angered hard-line Hindus who accused him of obscenity, forcing him to live in self-imposed exile.

After a few turbulent years, he entered a period of deep contemplation and artistic renewal in Qatar, far from the cultural battles at home.

Youssef Ahmed, a Qatar-based artist who knew Hussein during his final years, told the BBC: “He was deeply involved here, fascinated and inspired by Arab civilization and culture.”

“People often forget that some of his most ambitious works later in his life were conceived in Qatar.”

It is fitting, then, that the Pen and Pen Museum refuses to be a traditional tribute to the artist.

One of the museum’s main attractions is Walk the Earth, the ambitious multimedia project that occupied Hussein’s final years, which he conceived as a narrative of civilization told through movement, sound and mechanical choreography.

In fact, the museum building itself was inspired by a sketch Hussein made in 2008, showing two sculptural masses – the vibrant blue-gray house connected by a cylindrical tower.

Indian architect Martand Khosla, who designed the structure with Qatar Foundation, remembers the challenge of working from a single drawing, imagining countless conversations with the artist.

He told the BBC: “Painting has no size. It has intention. And turning that intention into an actual working museum was a different game.”

Rather than treating Hussain’s drawing as a rough outline, Mr. Khosla used it as a philosophical starting point: “What should remain literal and what should be metaphorical?”

“It was like developing a new architectural language,” he says.

The result is a labyrinthine design that invites visitors to wander and explore every line, shadow, and shadow as if they were following Hussein’s brushstrokes.

“We hope the museum will stimulate discovery in the same way that Hussain’s murals do – each visit can reveal a completely different experience or discovery,” says Mr Khosla.

Each exhibition opens with a quote from Hussein that invites visitors into his thoughts. Long corridors lead to immersive displays of paintings, sculptures and everyday objects – including his old Indian passport – telling the story of an artist, filmmaker and philosopher who traveled the world but never stopped longing for India.

It is no surprise that Hussein’s beloved horses take center stage in the museum.

“We tried to collect oral history by speaking to people who knew Hussein, such as his driver, collaborators and friends, to give a personal idea of ​​who he was,” Ms. Mohammed explains.

Artist Ahmed says that the interactive format of the museum provides an opportunity to understand the artist beyond the general controversies and traditions that defined his life.

Many remember Hussein as the eccentric barefoot artist with flowing white hair and a penchant for controversy.

“But at his core, he was a genius endlessly fascinated by storytelling, whether through mythology, modernity or memory,” Ahmed adds.

A lesser-known chapter of Hussein’s journey in the Gulf has been uncovered, which the museum is highlighting. In his later years, he developed a deep interest in Islamic texts and Arabic history.

In 2008, Hussein accepted a major commission from Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairwoman of the Qatar Foundation. From his studio in Doha, he has created a wide-ranging series that celebrates Arab civilization and explores Islamic history, faith, and the human movement.

Using a rich, bold palette, he depicted astronomers, Islamic philosophers and desert wanderers in the same kinetic lines that defined his Indian art, but in warmer, earthy tones that reflected the landscape of the Gulf.

“One of these paintings, The Battle of Badr, a pivotal moment in Islamic history, demonstrates his mastery of movement and color as he continued to incorporate historical and spiritual narratives into his distinctive style,” says Ms. Mohammed.

Hussein was commissioned to create 99 works, but was able to complete only 36 in his lifetime, which are now part of the museum’s collection.

“The plan is to rotate these elements over time, allowing visitors to gradually experience the full scope of his works,” Ms. Mohammed says.

By displaying these works alongside his Indian works, the museum not only celebrates Hussain’s legacy but also recasts it in a new context.

Despite his roots in India, Hussain’s worldview and work were shaped by a wide range of regions and histories, says Khosla.

“He had multiple identities at once. And those layers are what make this project incredibly rich.”