Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration

The first museum in the UK dedicated to illustration, holding 40,000 of Blake’s drawings opens to the public.

Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration is the UK’s only permanent place for illustration, located in Clerkenwell, London. There are  three galleries in former waterworks that showcase the breadth and dynamism of illustration through regularly changing exhibitions. The opening follows a 25 -year campaign led by Blake, best known for his many collaborations with Roald Dahl, to establish a permanent national centre for illustration, and builds on the charity’s previous temporary stint as the House of Illustration in King’s Cross .

Visitors to Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration will discover:

• Free displays and installations, an illustration Library and activities
• Three ticketed galleries, offering a changing programme of exhibitions
• A creative studio and a project space, supporting our ongoing work with illustrators, community groups and schools
• Gardens for outdoor making, reflection and play
• A café and terrace offering seasonal lunches, snacks and drinks
• A shop selling illustration prints, books, gifts, cards and making materials
• The beautifully restored 18th and 19th century pump houses of New River Head, whose stories are told throughout the Centre

Opening Exhibitions

Queer as Comics: 5 June – 4 October 2026 (Wednesday to Sunday: 10.00–17.00)

Queer as Comics traces comics, strip cartoons, graphic novels and zines that have represented LGBTQIA+ perspectives since the 1940s. From the UK’s first published gay comic strip and the first gay Black superhero, to today’s self-publishing scenes and webcomics, this is an exhibition of trailblazers. BOOK NOW

Quentin Blake: Performance: 5 June 2026 – 1 April 2027 (Wednesday to Sunday: 10.00–17.00)

From acrobatics to Shakespeare, this is a rare opportunity to explore Quentin Blake's theatrical influences. See over 100 original works by Blake in this UK-first survey of the influence of theatre on his work. BOOK NOW

MURUGIAH: Ever Feel Like… 5 June – 31 August 2026 (Wednesday to Sunday: 10.00–17.00)

MURUGIAH invites you into his kaleidoscopic, sometimes macabre world in the multi-disciplinary illustrator’s first ever solo show. BOOK NOW

Where: 1 Myddelton Passage London EC1R 1AG

Further Information: Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration

Venue details