The Museum of London has officially been renamed London Museum as it nears the halfway point of its £437m project to relocate to Smithfield Market.
The institution launched its new name and website this week along with a quirky new icon featuring a white clay pigeon and gold poo splat.
The pigeon was chosen to symbolise the brand as “an impartial and humble observer of London life”, the museum said in a blog post on the redesign. It hopes that, over time, people will come to recognise the pigeon and splat as signifiers of the London Museum.
“A good logo gets people talking,” said London Museum director Sharon Ament. “Our pigeon, cast from London clay, and its splat, rendered in glitter, prompt people to reconsider London.”
The pigeon and splat represent “a place where the grit and the glitter have existed side by side for millennia”, said Ament.
“We share our city with others, including millions of animals. Pigeons are all over London and so are we,” she added.
The new name harks back to the museum’s original title; it was originally called the London Museum before it merged with the Guildhall Museum in 1976 to become the Museum of London.
The rebrand comes as London Museum undertakes one of the most ambitious cultural redevelopment projects of the coming decade.
The institution, which closed its London Wall site in 2022, is transforming the formerly derelict, Victorian-era Smithfield Market building in Farringdon, central London, into a world-class museum, with its permanent exhibition spaces due to open in 2026.
The adjacent 1960s Poultry Market building, which will house temporary exhibitions, learning spaces, and collections stores, is scheduled to open in 2028.
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