Delhi to Remember MF Husain on His First Death Anniversary

Close friends, fans and fellow artists will remember Maqbool Fida Husain, one of India's greatest contemporary artists, on his first death anniversary on June 9, 2012 with a commemorative program, "Remembering Husain," at the India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi.

The artist died in exile in London. He was 96.

The tribute will bring to light another lesser known art of Husain — calligraphy — that he had mastered. While painting mythological compositions from the epics Ramayana and the Mahabharata at the home of art connoisseur Badrivishal Pitti in Hyderabad, he penned his thoughts and all that he felt in an elaborate painted calligraphic diary which he named, "Harf va Naksh."

The service will be hosted by the Raza Foundation, a non-profit arts and culture promotion body, set up by the oldest of the surviving progressive artists, SH Raza.

Historians say Husain learnt the art of calligraphy early in life and practiced the "Kulfic Khat," a form of stylized calligraphy with its geometric form. He learnt to write poetry in a madrassa in Baroda, where he stayed with his uncle. Poetry stayed with him all through his life.

The Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT), a progressive cultural organization in the Indian capital which was working with the artist to preserve his legacy, is planning a "mount a street van exhibition of reproductions of Husain's work, along with the lanterns and umbrellas — Husian's aesthetic icons," said Ram Rahman, a senior functionary of the organization.