Inside the Lawh Wa Qalam: M. F. Husain Museum in Doha

exteriors of the unusual and colourful shapes of the Lawh Wa Qalam M. F. Husain Museum in Doha by Martand Khosla

(Image credit: Courtesy of Qatar Foundation)

The new Lawh Wa Qalam: M. F. Husain Museum is the first dedicated institution to celebrate the work of Indian modernist art master Maqbool Fida Husain. The building, courtesy of Delhi-based architect Martand Khosla and spearheaded by non-profit Qatar Foundation (QF), has just opened its doors, showing off its unique character and playfully volumes.

Inside the Lawh Wa Qalam: M. F. Husain Museum in Doha

The museum's rich and colourful identity is a deliberate and carefully purpose-driven architectural gesture. Khosla, an architect and artist himself, drew on Husain's creative style and approach to craft his design, which indeed mirrors a sketch by the artist himself, which imagined what such a museum might look like.

Khosla explains: 'The architectural challenge – one I enjoyed immensely – was to translate his symbolic vision into a contemporary building that could both house his individual legacy and engage with the context of Education City. The museum’s architectural language evolved into a series of spaces that invite reflection and exchange, with materials that celebrate our shared cultural histories across South and West Asia.'

The building explores Husain's creative journey from the 1950s until his death in 2011. It includes art pieces (well-known and unseen works), as well as personal objects and materials that influenced the artist's output and approach. The Arab civilisation was a particular interest, which led Husain to produce a series of 35 paintings, some of which can be found among the exhibits here.

Alongside the collection, one of the M. F. Husain Museum's highlights is the artist's final work: a 2009 installation entitled Seeroo fi al ardh (‘Walk in the Land’), which will be featured in a dedicated gallery. The building also includes a café, a gift shop, a library and Creativity Hub, and an auditorium set to house various events year-round.

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, said: 'Maqbool Fida Husain is a legendary artist – a true master whose artistic works transcend borders and connect cultures, histories, and identities. I am delighted to fulfill the dream of this late, esteemed artist by inaugurating the museum, which will stand as a new landmark in Education City showcasing pages from his life and a collection of his works.'

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Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).