The Mosaic Rooms opened the New Year with an intimate concert by Kurdish musician Tara Jaff on January 22nd. Jaff fuses traditional Kurdish songs with lyrics of both contemporary and classical Kurdish poets. The Mosaic Rooms 2013 visual arts programme launched at the beginning of February with Last of the Dictionary Men, a multimedia exhibition on the Yemeni sailors of South Shields. Accompanying the exhibition is a programme of Yemen related events, including a series of lectures, films, music and more. Other highlights include an evening of literature and poetry with the Award-winning Moroccan poet, novelist, playwright, translator and political activist Abdellatif Laabi, as well as Palestinian author and journalist Anwar Hamed, who read from his new novel, Jaffa Prepares Morning Coffee.