After nearly six years hidden away in climate-controlled storage, one of Delhi’s most significant public artworks has finally returned to public attention. The monumental mural by celebrated modernist painter MF Husain, which adorned the World Health Organisation’s South-East Asia regional office, represents both a triumph of artistic vision and an unprecedented feat of conservation.
Created in 1963, just one year after the completion of the original WHO South-East Asia regional office, Husain’s massive work titled “The History of Medicine” stands as a remarkable example of mid-20th century public art. The mural, spanning an impressive 60 feet in length and 10 feet in height, bears the artist’s signature in both English and Hindi—a testament to its cultural significance. The artwork represented a bold fusion of public architecture and modern Indian art during an era when such ambitious collaborations were exceptionally rare. Painted directly onto the plaster wall of a conference room within the WHO building—itself designed by the legendary CPWD architect Habib Rahman—the mural embodied the optimistic spirit of post-independence India’s institutional modernization.
The mural’s survival story began in 2019 when the WHO building was declared structurally unsafe and marked for demolition. Unlike traditional canvas paintings that can be easily relocated, Husain’s work presented conservators with an extraordinary challenge: how to preserve a wall painting of this monumental scale without destroying it in the process. The task that lay ahead was genuinely unprecedented. Never before in Asia had anyone attempted to extract an intact wall painting of such dimensions. The risks were immense, and the margin for error virtually nonexistent. The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) rose to meet this formidable challenge. Over the course of approximately six months, a dedicated team of conservators undertook the painstaking process of cutting through brick and mortar to carefully slice the mural into six massive panels.
This delicate operation required extraordinary precision and expertise. Each cut had to be strategically planned to preserve the integrity of Husain’s artistic vision while ensuring the structural stability of the extracted sections. The successful completion of this project marked a conservation milestone—the first feat of its kind in Asia. Following the careful extraction, the six panels were transported to a climate-controlled storage facility, where they remained safely preserved but largely forgotten by the public. For nearly six years, this significant piece of India’s cultural heritage existed in a state of limbo, awaiting its next chapter. The mural’s emergence from storage represents more than just the physical preservation of an artwork—it symbolizes the dedication to safeguarding India’s artistic legacy for future generations. The successful conservation of “The History of Medicine” demonstrates that even the most challenging preservation projects can be accomplished with sufficient expertise, patience, and commitment.
As this masterpiece prepares for its next phase—whether in a new permanent home or temporary exhibition—it serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of preserving public art and the extraordinary lengths to which conservators will go to ensure that significant cultural artifacts survive for future generations to appreciate and study.
Featuring Image Courtesy: Live Law
Minerva is a visual artist and currently serves as a sub editor at Abir Pothi.
