qatar foundation to open m. f. husain museum in doha, tracing six decades of modernist art

Oct 1, 2025 - 22:00

qatar foundation to open m. f. husain museum in doha, tracing six decades of modernist art

qatar to welcome M. F. Husain Museum in november 2025

Qatar Foundation is set to open a cultural landmark dedicated to the life and work of Maqbool Fida Husain, one of the most influential modernist artists of the 20th century. Titled Lawh Wa Qalam: M. F. Husain Museum, the institution will open on November 28th, 2025, in Education City, Doha, and is designed to be the first and largest museum worldwide devoted to Husain’s art. Its collection spans six decades of practice across painting, film, tapestry, photography, poetry, and installation.

The concept of the building is closely tied to the artist’s vision, taking shape from a 2008 sketch Husain made of how he imagined the museum. The project reflects Husain’s commitment to experimentation and to dissolving boundaries between disciplines.

all images courtesy of Qatar Foundation

spanning 60 years of the indian artist’s work

Covering more than 3,000 square meters, the museum brings together a permanent collection and immersive displays that retrace Husain’s career from the 1950s until his death in 2011. Highlights include a cycle of paintings commissioned by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, inspired by Arab civilization and completed in the artist’s final years in Qatar. The galleries will also incorporate Seeroo fi al Ardh (2009), Husain’s last major work, a multimedia installation that depicts humanity’s technological and cultural progress.

Born in India in 1913, Husain became a founding member of the Progressive Artists Group in 1947, breaking away from academic traditions and shaping a modern Indian visual language. His work traversed oil painting, serigraphy, sculpture, and cinema, with themes ranging from mythological epics and rural life to postcolonial realities and religious diversity. Celebrated internationally, his career spanned exhibitions from the Venice Biennale (1952) to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (2014). Husain described himself as a ‘global nomad,’ forging strong ties with Europe, the United States, and the Arab world, particularly Qatar, where he spent his final years and held citizenship.

Within Education City—already home to public art installations, research centers, and universities — the new museum situates Husain’s work in dialogue with broader questions of creativity and cultural exchange. As Kholoud M. Al-Ali, executive director of community engagement and programming at Qatar Foundation, notes, the space is designed for exploration and critical engagement, connecting audiences with Husain’s art as a living legacy rather than a static archive.

Lawh Wa Qalam: M. F. Husain Museum will open on November 28th, 2025, in Education City, Doha