An arts venue that supports contemporary Arab culture has reopened in London following a year-long redevelopment.
Mosaic Rooms, which was founded in 2009 by the AM Qattan Foundation, has also been restructured and has a new director, Pip Day.
“In a moment of profound uncertainty and unfathomable violence, spaces like Mosaic Rooms, which holds Palestine as its compass, are vital – not only as sites of refuge in these inadmissible times, but as platforms for critical discourse, collective learning and cultural resistance,” said Day, who has previously worked in Montreal and Mexico City.
“I look forward to strengthening connections with artists and communities whose work confronts the inequalities of our contemporary world, speaks to urgent histories and presents, and holds space – in London – for the lived experiences of the Arab region and diasporic communities.
“I am committed to strengthening the ethical infrastructures and networks of solidarity that have come to define Mosaic Rooms.
“Central to this work, especially while genocide against the Palestinian people continues unhindered, is advancing critical discourse on colonial accountability and creating the conditions not only to imagine futures that honour our communities, but to take the strategic action required to realise them.”
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The refurbished building features a permanent site-specific commission by Palestinian architect, visual artist and academic Dima Srouji. Four Moons From Home was made possible with support from Art Fund and Al-Qattan Charitable Trust.
Mosaic Rooms has reopened with Circles and Storytellers, the first public UK solo exhibition by French Moroccan multidisciplinary artist and educator, Bouchra Khalili. Through her work, Khalili suggests new civic imaginations and alternative ways of belonging and forming communities
The reworked Mosaic Rooms also includes an larger bookshop; a Play Room for children, families and young people; live radio space called the Sound Capsule; and the Salon, a space public programmes, artists' talks, performances and screenings.
Mosaic Rooms also has newly designed garden featuring an outdoor amphitheatre. This garden was created by landscape architect Aarde and the amphitheatre was designed by A Small Studio.
In this article that mentions the reopening and redevelopment of the Mosaic Room I feel it should include the architects who carried out the works, ‘A Small Studio Architects’ who also designed the new amphitheatre.