In February 2026, The Mosaic Rooms reopened in Kensington following a major refurbishment by A Small Studio and a rebrand by Pentagram Partner Samar Maakaroun, marking a decisive shift in both the role and position for the West London cultural and community space.

Founded in 2008 by the A. M. Qattan Foundation under the directorship of Rachel Jarvis, The Mosaic Rooms established itself over its first fifteen years as a platform for contemporary culture from the SWANA region, challenging reductive narratives around Arab identities and revealing the multiplicity and depth of artistic voices. Nearly two decades on, the refurbished space marked the move from privately funded initiative to public institution, becoming part of London’s rich cultural fabric.

Today, under the direction of Pip Day, Mosaic Rooms continues to grow as one of the city’s most vital platforms for Arab culture and underrepresented voices. The redesigned building reflects this shift, extending beyond the gallery into a space for talks, learning, play and gathering. A place where culture is not only shown, but lived.

To coincide with the reopening, Samar developed a new identity to frame this next phase. The new symbol, using the initials M and R, is one of exchange and interplay. An extended ‘M’ stretches beyond its expected form, moving fluidly from right to left and from left to right, a fundamental condition of being in between; between languages, between places and between ways of seeing.

Culture, and the state of affairs between the global south and the western world, is not stable or singular. It is constantly shifting and adapting, shaped and reshaped through the world today and its balance of power. The simplicity and purity of the monogram confidently sits against an ever-changing visual language that follows this logic, where nothing sits still or stays in the same place. Circular forms extend into ovals and interlocking shapes, suggesting movement, entanglement and relation.

The shape of the extended M, with one straight side and one curved side, presented as interplay, echoes the lived condition of many immigrants. Defined by Ece Temelkuran as ‘unhomed’, it’s an idea that explores not simply moving between places, but losing the certainty of belonging to one. Home, for Ece, becomes detached from geography or language, and becomes something constantly negotiated.

A state that runs through much contemporary cultural production from the region, where displacement and fractured identity are not just themes but realities of the world today. Mosaic Rooms, not just a gallery, has become a place to hold these conversations and negotiations, not simplifying or reducing the tension, but holding it. The identity reflects this. The ‘M’ never settles. It shifts, oscillates and exists between positions. Not here, not there, but in the space in between.

Movement runs throughout the identity. In typography, image treatment, and language, everything carries a sense of back and forth, inviting audiences to come for the art and stay for the conversation. The palette is warm and energetic. Bright yellow and deep green anchor the system, supported by softer tones of muted yellow and pastel pink. These colours draw loosely from cultivated landscapes; citrus, olive, and light. At its core is a deliberate tension: pink, often avoided in the political discourse of the SWANA region, is brought forward as a conscious challenge. The dusty pink becomes a point of resistance, reframing what is considered acceptable, and opening space for new narratives.

The identity extends across a full digital and spatial system, from website to signage, allowing The Mosaic Rooms to move beyond its physical space and into the wider cultural life of London.