Alistair Hardaker | Image: Illustrator impression of the new Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration © Nora Walter
Opening exhibitions include first major UK exhibition on queer comic-making, with £15 tickets on sale later this month.
The upcoming Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration has announced that it will now open to the public on Friday 5 June 2026.
The June opening is a slight delay on its original May 2026 target, first announced late last year.
The £12.5m project in Clerkenwell will open with three exhibitions, a cafe, shop, gardens and free spaces including a Library and Creative Studio.
Tickets for the Centre’s special exhibitions will go on sale later this month, priced at £15.
Entry will include access to the three exhibitions. First, ‘Quentin Blake: Performance’ will showcase the theatrical influences of the namesake and founder. The exhibition features more than 100 original drawings, created for the likes of Roald Dahl’s The Enormous Crocodile and Macbeth, alongside preparatory material and his own works.
Also debuting is what the centre describes as the first major exhibition on queer comic-making in the UK. ‘Queer as Comics’ highlights include drawings from Tove Jansson’s 1954 Moomin cartoon strip for the London Evening News and works by creators such as Kate Charlesworth, Rupert Kinnard and David Shenton.
Finally ‘MURUGIAH: Ever Feel Like…’, is the artist’s first solo show. It explores his Sri Lankan heritage and Welsh upbringing through characters and scenes. The exhibition, supported by Arts Council England and the Bagri Foundation, features a diverse range of works including sculpture, painting, prints, and sketches.
Ahead of opening, the Centre has refreshed its identity to include illustrated birds inspired by founder Quentin Blake who has drawn hundreds of cockatoos, parakeets and other birds over his nearly 80-year career.
Quentin Blake said: “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.”
