New Dobrat Indians.

On the edge of Doha, a new grey-blue building rises like a painting on the skyline, its gleaming tiles changing with the sunlight, casting geometric shadows.

The building seems to lean forward, as if eager to tell a story.

In this video clip from Lawh Wa Qalam, the world’s first museum dedicated to MF Husain, we see the extraordinary work of the late legendary Indian artist, whose prolific paintings and tumultuous personal history fascinated the world.

The museum commemorates the legacy of the artist, who spent the last years of his life in Qatar and was granted citizenship in 2010.

Covering an area of ​​approximately 3,000 square meters, it opened to visitors last week and is part of the vast campus of Qatar Foundation Education City, a center for education and research.

Featuring more than 150 works and objects, including paintings, sculptures, films, tapestries and photographs, the museum charts the astonishing breadth of Hussein’s career and provides visitors with a rare window into the artist’s reflections and inspirations in his later years.

Director Noof Mohammed said Hussein always wanted his museum to feel like home. “We hope visitors can experience the world in an intimate, playful and reflective way, just as he did.”

Few artists are as widely traveled and imaginative as Hussein. Muscular and energetic, his horses remain among the most rare and recognizable paintings in contemporary art, selling for millions of dollars.

An artist often described as having a nomadic and bohemian temperament, he seamlessly dabbled in Cubist-inspired modernism and traditional Indian themes, creating bold and vibrant canvases with historical and mythological scenes.

His signature style earned him the title “Indian Picasso”. He also made two Bollywood films, which failed at the box office.

Hussein has also never been without controversy. His paintings of nude Hindu goddesses outraged hardline Hindus, who accused him of obscenity and forced him into self-imposed exile.

After several turbulent years in Qatar, he retreated from the cultural strife of his homeland and entered a period of deep contemplation and artistic renewal.

“He was deeply involved here, attracted and inspired by Arab civilization and culture,” Youssef Ahmed, a Qatari artist who knew Hussein in his final years, told the BBC.

“It is often forgotten that some of his most ambitious works in his later years were conceived in Qatar.”

It is therefore natural that the Lawh Wa Qalam Museum refuses to pay tribute to the artist in a traditional way.

One of the museum’s main attractions is Seeroo fi al ardh (Walking on the Land), an ambitious multimedia project that took up the last years of Hussein’s life and which he conceived as telling the narrative of civilization through movement, sound and mechanical choreography.

In fact, the museum building itself was inspired by a 2008 sketch by Hussein, showing two sculptural volumes—a vivid blue-gray house connected by a cylindrical tower.

Indian architect Martand Khosla, who designed the building in collaboration with Qatar Foundation, recalled the challenge of working from a single drawing, imagining countless conversations with the artist.

“A sketch has no scale. It is an intention. Translating that intention into an actual functional museum is another matter,” he told the BBC.

Khosla saw Hussein’s sketches not as blueprints but as philosophical starting points: “What should remain literal and what should be metaphorical?”

“It’s like developing a new architectural language,” he said.

The result is a maze-like layout that invites visitors to wander and explore every line, shadow and shadow as if following Hussein’s own brushstrokes.

“We hope the museum inspires discovery in the same way that Hussein’s murals did – with each visit leading to a completely different experience or discovery,” Mr Khosla said.

Each gallery opens with a quote from Hussein, inviting visitors to enter his mind. 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 yearning for India.

Not surprisingly, Hussein’s beloved horses take center stage in the museum.

“We tried to collect oral histories by talking to people who knew Hussein, such as his drivers, collaborators and friends, to understand who he was,” Ms Mohammed explained.

Mr Ahmed, the artist, said the museum’s interactive format provided an opportunity to understand the artist beyond the public controversy and legends that defined his life.

Many people recall Hussein as a barefoot, eccentric artist with flowing white hair who loved to stir up controversy.

Mr Ahmed added: “But at heart he was a genius endlessly fascinated by storytelling, whether through myth, modernity or memory.”

A little-known chapter of Hussein’s journey unfolded in the Gulf, highlighted by the museum. In his later years, he developed a keen interest in Islamic literature and Arab history.

In 2008, Hussein accepted a major commission from Sheikh Moza bint Nasser, Chairman of the Qatar Foundation. From his studio in Doha, he creates large-scale series that celebrate Arab civilization and explore Islamic history, faith, and human movement.

Using a rich, bold palette, he depicts Islamic astronomers, philosophers, and desert wanderers with the same dynamic lines as his Indian art, but in warmer earthy ochres, reflecting the landscape of the bay.

Ms Mohammed said: “One of the works, The Battle of Badr, marked a pivotal moment in Islamic history and demonstrates his mastery of movement and color as he continued to blend historical and spiritual narratives in his signature style.”

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

“The plan is to rotate the works over time so that visitors gradually experience the full range of his work,” Ms Mohammed said.

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

Khosla said that although Hussain was rooted in India, his worldview and work were influenced by the wider region and history.

“He has multiple identities at once. It’s that layering that makes this project incredibly rich.”