Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration has announced that it will open to the public on Friday 5 June 2026 with three exhibitions, a cafe, shop, gardens and free spaces including a Library and Creative Studio. Located in Clerkenwell, the Centre will be the world’s largest space dedicated to illustration.
Tickets for the Centre’s special exhibitions will go on sale on Wednesday 29 April 2026. With one ticket, visitors will be able to: view over 100 original and rarely-seen drawings in Quentin Blake: Performance showcasing the theatrical influences of the much-loved illustrator; see the first major exhibition on queer comic-making in the UK, spanning 1940s to the current day in Queer as Comics; and delve into MURUGIAH’s kaleidoscopic – sometimes macabre – world exploring themes of identity and mental health through vibrant works inspired by Hollywood, sci-fi and 2000s pop punk.
Ahead of opening, the Centre has refreshed its identity to include some feathered friends, inspired by founder Quentin Blake who has drawn hundreds of cockatoos, parakeets and other birds over his nearly 80-year career.
Quentin Blake says, “I have liked birds – to look at and to draw – ever since I was a child; and more recently I have found that if you need an extra note of colour, a small parrot or cockatoo is very useful.”
The Centre’s new suite, or ‘crackle’, of cockatoo characters – a perched one, a running one and a regal one, along with a flying parakeet – is a nod towards the curiosity, playfulness and versatility of illustration. Colours, chosen for improved accessibility and suitability across print and digital, have been loosely inspired by Quentin’s watercolours, creating a warm and welcoming feel.
Cockatoos, a type of parrot, are unique creatures with prominent crests and beaks. Known to mimic human speech, cockatoos are viewed as symbols of wisdom, guardianship and communication. This perfectly encapsulates the power of illustration to communicate across barriers and the values of the Centre. Parakeets are an increasingly common – and colourful – sight around London.
The free-spirited cockatoo complements the Centre’s pre-existing logotype, as designed by Fraser Muggeridge Studio. Set in Caslon Doric, the typeface was created in 1722 less than a mile away from the Centre’s Clerkenwell site at a time when it was a working waterworks, bustling with industrial activity.
