Speaking for Ourselves

Events in London

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14/04/2025

Events in London

Talks and discussions

Monday 17 November

* The coming enlightenment: Reparations now for tomorrow, Sir Hilary Beckles on reparatory justice for transatlantic slavery, 6 - 8.30pm, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, The Chancellor's Hall, First Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, WC1E 7HU. Info: ICS

* In Conversation: Joe Sacco and Anthony Loyd, Sacco talks about his research into the deadly sectarian riots in Uttar Pradesh and the politics of story telling, the ethics of bearing witness and the power of comics to confront uncomfortable truths, 7pm, Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place W2 1QJ. Info: Frontline

* Public health and humanitarian responses, Francesco Checci, 5.30 - 6.30pm, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, WC1E 7HT. Info: LSHTM

* Voices for Change: A Night of Climate Action, Samia Dumbuya, Ellen Bradley, Chin Chin Lam, 6.30 - 9.30pm, free, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD. Info: Museum

Tuesday 18 November

* Beyond the summit: what COP30 means for the Global South, 7 - 8.30pm, in-person and online, £12/ £6, Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, SW7 2AR. Info: RGS

* Watch live from COP30: The world film premier of Climate Blueprint Barbados + discussion, 7.30-9pm. Info: Overseas Development Institute

* Thirst: The Global Quest to Solve the Water Crisis, Filippo Menga on his new book, 12 – 1:30pm, online, free. Info: City University

* MCCI's Connect: Graphic Refuge panel event, Dominic Davies and Candida Rifkind on the first in-depth study of comics about refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, and detainees by artists from the Global North and South, 5 - 6.30pm, City University, C309-C310, Northampton Square, EC1V 0HB. Info: City + 19 Nov, 5-6.30pm

* Chinese power investments in Africa: lessons from South Africa and Zambia, Yunnan Chen, Wei Shen, Nimrod Zalk, Olena Borodyna, Kuda Ndhlukulka, 12-1.30pm, online. Info: Overseas Development Institute

Wednesday 19 November

* Disrupted Development in the Congo, Ben Radley on his new book, 5 - 5.30pm, Kings College, Strand campus, WC2R 2LS

Thursday 20 November

* Mixed heritage in the family: Racial identity, spousal choice, and childrearing, Miri Song analyses the dynamics of mixed-heritage families across generations, 12 - 1pm, Institute of Education, 55-59 Gordon Square, WC1H 0NT. Info: IoE

* Financing refugee leadership in an era of cuts, webinar with Claude Samaha, Nehal Khattab, Komai Alkhateeb, Davide Bracci, Ophir Edelstein, 2 - 3.30pm. Info: Humanitarian Policy Group

* Lines drawn by empire: displacement, belonging and borders, Zrinka Bralo, Boucka Koffi, Lucy Mayblin, 6.30 - 8pm, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, WC2A 2AE

Thursday 20 - Friday 21 November

* Cultures of Democracy: Commonwealth leadership, grassroots activism and people empowerment in times of crisis, Matthew Neuhaus, day 1, online and at Senate House, Malet Street, WC1E 7HU 1.30 - 7pm, day 2 online only, 9.30am - 5pm. Info: IoCS

Friday 21 November

* An A-Z of Global Justice: book launch, Hilary Wainwright, Hamza Hamouchene, James O’Nions, 6.30pm, The Liberation Centre, 2 Beehive Place, SW9 7QR. Info: Global Justice Now

Monday 24 November

* Gaza: Ceasefire, Survival and the Future of a State, Ramita Navai and Jean-Pierre Filiu discuss what the ceasefire truly means and what can emerge from the ruins, 7pm, £16.80, Palestine House, 113 High Holborn, WC1V 6JQ. Info: Frontline

Tuesday 25 November

* 60 years since the 1965 Race Relations Act and its lessons for racial justice today, Shabna Begujm, 5pm-7pm, UCL Institute of Advanced Studies, Gower Street, WC1E6BT

* Salman Rushdie: The Eleventh Hour, the author celebrates the publication of his new story collection, in conversation with Mishal Husain, 7.30pm, £20, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX. Info: Rushdie

* Palestine - 1: Reimagining Palestine’s Past, celebration of the launch of a an anthology edited by Basma Ghalayini, in which 10 Palestinian writers re-imagine Palestine the year before the Nakba on a village-by-village basis, 7pm, £12, British Library, 96 Euston Road, NW1. Info: Library

* Down to Earth: Why Soil Matters, Melissa Leach, Merlin Sheldrake, Martin Bell, 6.30 - 7.45pm, The British Academy, 10-11 Carlton House Terrace, SW1Y 5AH. Info: BA

* A Guide to Direct Action, 6 - 7.30pm, online, free. Info: Human Rights Action Centre

Exhibitions

* Thirst: In Search of Freshwater, from ancient Mesopotamia and Victorian London to modern-day Nepal and Singapore, the exhibition combines art, science, history, technology and indigenous knowledge to deepen understanding of our relationships with freshwater, free, Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, NW1 2BE until 1 February. Info: Wellcome

+ Thirst: an exhibition bridge over troubled water

* Kerry James Marshall: The Histories, “the most important artist” in the US, who places the lives of Black Americans front and centre, £23.50-£25.50, Royal Academy, Piccadilly, until 18 January. Info: RA

+ ‘If you say Black, you should see Black’

+ ‘My paintings don’t fit the narrative’: Kerry James Marshall on why he’s depicting black enslavers

* Botanical Tales and Seeds of Empire & Flora Indica: Recovering the lost histories of Indian botanical art, The Singh Twins examine the global mythologies of plants and the histories of Empire + Flora Indica – a world first display of work by historical Indian botanical artists, admission included in Kew entry fee, Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, Kew Gardens until 12 April

+ The Singh Twins light up the dark links between empire and botany

+ The Singh Twins spotlight Kew’s role in the business of Empire

* A Story of South Asian Art: Mrinalini Mukherjee and Her Circle, artists who have shaped the trajectory of Indian Modernism, £17, Royal Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly W1J until 24 February. Info: RA

+ 21 November, Curator talk: A Story of South Asian Art, 11 - midday, £15/£9

* Nigerian Modernism, Nigerian artists working before and after the decade of national independence from colonial rule in 1960, Tate Modern, Bankside SE1 9TG until 10 May. Info: Tate

* Mumbai + London: new perspectives on the ancient world, small exhibit focussed on Greek god Dionysius and India’s Vishnu, British Museum, Great Russell Street, WC1B 3DG until 11 January 2026. Info: Exhibition

* Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times In An Instant), Mexican artist Teresa Margolles’ cuboid on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square is a memorial to trans people worldwide

* Collecting and Empire, trail making connections between archaeology, anthropology and the British Empire, British Museum, Great Russell Street, WC1. Info: British Museum

* British Library, installation of 6,328 books marks the contributions of migrants to UK, Tate Modern, Bankside, SE1. Info: Installation/ 7887 8888

* Inspiration Africa: Stories Beyond the Artifacts, exploration of V&A galleries through the lens of African heritage, free, second Saturday of every month, V&A, Cromwell Road, SW7. Info: V&A

* African Deeds, showcases a collection that includes diaries, cassette interviews, videos, photos and documents of three generations of family history, inspired by grandfather Thomas’ land title deeds brought from West Africa in 1901, Black Cultural Archives, 1 Windrush Square, SW2 1EF. Info: BCA

* Target Queen, large-scale commission by British-Indian artist Bharti Kher, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre

* Making Egypt, exploring ancient Egypt's creativity and how it continues to influence art, design and popular culture today, £10, Young V&A, Cambridge Heath Road, E2 9PA. Info: V&A

* Imaging Peace, outdoor exhibition featuring global community peace photography projects, part of ‘Lost & Found: Stories of sanctuary and belonging’, a free programme of arts and ideas at King’s College, Strand, WC2R 2LS. Info: Peace exhibition

* The Presence of Solitude, through film, photography and costume, Taiwanese artist Val Lee explores isolation, solitude and the resulting human connections, free, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road until 11 January. Info: Hayward

* I Still Dream of Lost Vocabularies, examination of political dissent and erasure through the idea of collage, Sabrina Tirvengadum, Sunil Gupta, Qualeasha Wood, Jess Atieno, Sheida Soleimani, free, Autograph, Rivington Place, EC2A 3BA until 21 March. Info: Exhibition

* Parliament of Ghosts, site specific work by Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama that repurposes colonial-era furniture and jute sacks alongside newly crafted elements, inaugural show at Ibraaz, 14 Mortimer Street, W1W 7SS, a space dedicated to Global Majority culture, until 15 February. Info: Ibraaz

* Wildlife Photographer of the Year, from £15.50, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, DW7 5DB until 12 July. Info: Museum

* Jennie Baptiste: Rhythm & Roots, the Black British photographer offers a visual narrative of the dynamic movements which shaped and define British music, fashion, and youth culture, Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 1LA until 4 January. Info: Somerset House

* El Anatsui, new works in wood by the Ghanaian artist, October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester Street, WC1N 3AL and Goodman Gallery, 26 Cork Street W1S 3ND until 29 November.

* Secret Maps, the stories hidden in some of history’s most mysterious maps, £20, British Library, 96 Euston Road NW1 2DB until 18 January. Info: Library

* The Land Carries, work by three international artists: Ahmed Akasha (UK), Dina Nur Satti (US) and Yasmin Elnour (Bahrain) responding to material in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology, 1 - 5pm, Petrie Museum, University College London, Malet Place, WC1E 6BT until 16 May. Info: Sudan exhibition

* 3 Oubour: A river between mountains, work on innovation and traditional Arabic practices by Aida Jamal, Imane Elkabil, Lon Kharpoutlian, Mehdi Ouhmane, Nabil Himich, Dima Srouji, Monya Riachi and Alia Hamaoui, Crafts Council Gallery, 44A Pentonville Road, N1 9BY until 22 November. Info: Arab British Centre

Film

* Palestine 36, Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir’s most ambitious work to date is a powerful drama about events leading up to the 1936 Arab Revolt against the British, Barbican, Greenwich Picturehouse, Lexi, Garden; Castle until 20 November; Hackney Picturehouse until 16 November; Gate Picturehouse until 17 November

+ Palestine 1936: A story for today

* UK Jewish Film Festival, online selection 19 - 27 November. Info: Festival

* French Film Festival London, Ciné Lumière, 17 Queensberry Place, SW7 2DT until 23 November. Info: Festival

+ Twice-jailed Panahi spins a moral tale for our authoritarian times

* London Palestine Film Festival, 19 features + shorts, including 17 Nov, The Palestine Exception, takes you to the heart of the largest anti-war movement on US college campuses since the 1970s; Thank You For Banking With Us, draws a darkly comic portrait of sisterhood, survival and resistance against patriarchal norms; 18 Nov, Song Of All Ends,16 months after the Beirut port explosion a family in the Shatila Refugee Camp struggles to heal after the devastating loss of their youngest daughter; 20 Nov, Once Upon A Time in Gaza, hard-edged drama is the latest fiction from Gaza-born film-making brothers Arab and Tarzan Nasser; 22 Nov, Ayouni follows the families of two activists who vanished in Syrian political prisons; The Voice of Hind Rajab, docudrama about the killing of a five-year-old Palestinian girl during Israel’s Gaza invasion; 25 Nov, Passing Dreams, hope triumphs over despair in a portrait of youth navigating loss, displacement and memory; The Mission, British-Iraqi nerve surgeon Mohammed Tahir embarks on his third humanitarian mission to Gaza during the genocide. Until 28 November. Info: LPFF

+ Palestine 1936: A story for today

* Film Africa, over 50 films and events from more than 20 countries, including a special spotlight on the D R Congo and a Souleymane Cissé retrospective; 17 Nov, Promised Sky, an Ivorian pastor in Tunis opens her home to two women seeking refuge, only for their fragile community to be tested when a shipwreck survivor arrives; Nawi, follows a girl in northern Kenya who escapes a forced marriage to pursue her dream of education; Aïcha, a woman survives a bus crash and seizes the chance to start a new life until she becomes the key witness to a police blunder; 19 Nov, Fincop, a policeman on a dangerous mission to stop a counterfeit alcohol racket; 20 Nov, Catcher, a former wrestler in war-torn Kisangani sets out to honour his mentor; 21 Nov, Khartoum, documentary about five uprooted residents; 22 Nov, Freedom Way, Nigerian thriller about two tech pioneers faced by political corruption; 23 Nov, Katanga, a prophecy leaves Katanga destined to seize the crown or lose his life in a saga of power, betrayal and fate. Until 23 November. Info: Festival

+ A father’s shadow - and the shadow of a Nigerian coup

+ Death and life in a Tunisian police procedural

+ A moving glimpse of Ivorian life in Tunisia - and a warning

+ Sudan’s democracy protest re-enacted

* Left-Handed Girl, family drama following a mother and her two daughters confronting secrets and new beginnings in Taipei. Barbican, Garden until 20 November

+ Will I-Jing’s devilish left hand come right in the end?

+ ‘The left hand is the devil’s hand’: how Shih-Ching Tsou turned childhood trauma into extraordinary drama

* Valley of the Shadow of Death, intense, moral-driven crime drama about a pastor and the man who assaulted his daughter, leading to her suicide, written and co-directed by Jeffrey Lam Sen and Amtonio Tamtwo, leading lights of Hong Kong’s new generation of film-makers

Monday 17 November

* Tantura, documentary about an Israeli massacre in the Palestinian fishing village + Q&A with Khaled Dawas, Neve Gordon, Manal Massalha, 2.15pm, in aid of the Hanoon Foundation for Medical Training in Palestine, Castle cinema

Tuesday 18 November

* Atlantics (Atlantique), Mati Diop’s talented feature debut is about young lovers in Senegal, caught between marital commitment, poverty and migration. It’s also a ghost story, 2.40pm, National Film Theatre

* Colossal Wreck, one man’s view of the COP28 climate conference in Dubai + Q&A with director Josh Appignanesi, 6.20pm, Castle

Wednesday 19 November

* Soundtrack to a Coup d’État, decolonisation and jazz are entwined in this Oscar nominated historical rollercoaster + Q&A with Director Johan Grimonprez, Imruh Bakari, Emma Sandon, June Givanni and Helene Neveu Kringelbach, 6.30-10pm, UCL East Cinema, 1 Pool Street, E20 2AF

+ Congo, colonialism, Cold War, conflict and all that jazz

* South By South: A View From Tangier, three short films + discussion with artist Hicham Gardaf, and Imane Elkabli from the Marrakech Short Film Festival, 6.30 - 8.30pm, £10/ £5, South London Gallery, 65-67 Peckham Road, SE5 8UH and 82 Peckham Road, SE15 5LQ.Info:

* The Digital Status Crisis, launch of report, 6pm, online. Info: The3million

Thursday 20 November

* Brides, two teenage girls in search of freedom, friendship and belonging decide to run away from their lives in the UK and travel to Syria + introduction by Brent Councillor Mili Patel and Q&A with actress Safiyya Ingar, 7pm, Lexi

from Friday 21 November

* Our Shared Futures: Climate & Migration Community Film Festival, Utama, an elderly Quechua couple in Bolivia confronts a devastating drought that threatens their traditional way of life; Thankyou For the Rain, documentary follows a Kenyan farmer who begins filming his daily life to show the real impacts of climate change on his community + shorts; free streaming access. Until 30 November. Info: Counterpoint Arts

Saturday 22 November

* Mangrove, Steve McQueen’s biopic reconstructs the courageous battle by Notting Hill’s West Indian community against police intimidation, 5:30pm, National Film Theatre

Tuesday 25 November

* The Passion of Remembrance + Step Forward Youth, dizzying and passionate portrayal of intersectional politics in 1980s Black Britain + film in which young Black British people speak out against negative media narratives, 8.45pm, National Film Theatre

* Coexistence, My Ass, comedian Noam Shuster Eliassi uses humour to expose hard truths about the relationship between Israel and Palestine, 6.20pm, Curzon Bloomsbury

Performance

* After Sunday, Ty, Leroy and Daniel have signed up to a new Caribbean cooking group led by their occupational therapist, but when you are locked in a secure hospital, too much food for thought can be a bad thing, £10 - £35, Bush Theatre, Uxbridge Road, W12 8LJ until 20 December. Info: Bush

+ Caribbean-British ‘kitchen sink’ drama set in a secure hospital

* Period Parrrty, set in 2010, Gayathiri Kamalakanthan’ debut play is no ordinary coming-of-age story. It’s a trans Tamil party, and an ode to Tamil survival and self-determination, from £19, Soho Theatre, Dean Street, W1 until 22 November. Info: Soho Theatre

* Voila! Theatre Festival, 110 shows. 70 languages, Barons Court Theatre, Theatre Deli, Etcetera Theatre, The Playground Theatre, The Questors Theatre – Studio, The Space Theatre, Theatro Technis and The Cockpit. Until 23 November. Info: Festival

* The Meat Kings! (Inc.) of Brooklyn Heights, the dark underbelly of America’s anti-immigration policies and the brutal sacrifices that drive the pursuit of prosperity, £15 - £49.50, Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, N4 3JP, until 29 November. Info: Park

from Thursday 20 November

* The Horse of Jenin, an ode to the power of imagination and the resilience it brings, constructed from the fragments of Palestinian actor and comedian Alaa Shehada’s memories, Bush Theatre, Uxbridge Road, W12 8LJ until 20 December. Info: Bush