Events in London
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Talks and discussions
Tuesday 10 June
* Campaigning to End Israeli Apartheid, how to build collective power and participate in local actions to end corporate and government complicity in Israeli apartheid, 6-7.30pm, free, online. Info: Amnesty
* Carbon Takeback: How We Will Stop Fossil Fuels from Causing Global Warming, Myles Allen, 6pm, Gresham College, Barnard's Inn Hall, EC1N 2HH. Info: Gresham
* Amartya Sen and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in conversation with Nick Stern: building sustainability in a turbulent world, 6.30-8pm, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, WC2A 2AE
Wednesday 11 June
* Global Disorder Book Launch and Seminar, Amitav Acharya argues that the decline of the West is good for world order, 3pm, City University, Northampton Square. Info: City
* Global trade at a crossroads: Tariffs, investment, and power in transition, Alberto Asquer, Luca Rubini, Julius Sen, 4pm, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, WC1
from Wednesday 11 June
* Gurnaik Johal: on Saraswati, the award-winning author presents his debut novel, a sweeping epic of family, nationalism, and environmental change centred around a legendary river's mysterious return, online for two weeks. Info: FANE
Thursday 12 June
* Do We Belong To The Sea?, films (Madleen, Vittne / Witness, Dover 82) and discussion with Action Against Detention and Deportations, Alarmphone UK, All African Women’s Group, Free Ibrahim Bah and: Culture Workers Against Genocide on the intersections between the Gaza genocide, Sudan war and EU and UK’s border, 7pm, LJ Works, 5 Gastineau Yard, SW9 7FA. Info: Do we Belong?
* Institutional male chauvinism affecting undocumented migrant women heading north, María López explores how migrant women in transit through Mexico are exposed to institutional and feminicidal violence, yet are able to create spaces of resistance, 12-1pm, Institute of Education, 55-59 Gordon Square WC1H 0NU. Info: IoE
* Powering change: Women, youth, and the clean energy revolution, Ann Kingiri, Michele Diop Niang, Hala Abou-Ali, 12-1:30pm online. Info: Institute of Development Studies
* Financing Social Protection in Protracted Crises, Sophia Swithern, Charis Reid, Fardosa Abdullahi, Ann-Kathrin Beck, Wesam Qaid, 2-3pm online. Info: Institute of Development Studies
from Thursday 12 June
* Lisa Smith: On Jamaica Road, the author discusses growing up between cultures, identity, and the power of community in the face of social change, 6.30pm broadcast and then online until 28 June, £0- £29.99. Info: FANE
Saturday 14 June
* The Other Side of Hope: Literary magazine of Sanctuary, writers and editors Arbër Qerka-Gashi, Angela Zaher, Yin F Lim, Amir Darwish and Asiye Betül share their work and experience + Q&A, part of the Southwark Festival of Words, 12.30-2pm, Camberwell Library, 48 Camberwell Green SE5 7AL. Info: Other Side of Hope
* From Protest to Power, Rafeef Ziadah, Mahim Qureshi, James Meadway, Asad Rehman on challenging Israel’s genocide in Gaza, curbing the super-rich and corporations and climate collapse too, 1.45-5.30pm online. Info: War on Want
Saturday 14-Sunday 15 June
* Jaipur Literature Festival, speakers include Anita Anand, Anita Rani, Asma Khan, David Hare, Hanif Kureishi, Ira Mukhoty, Javed Akhtar, Michael Rosen, Namita Gokhale, Nihal Arthanayake, Reeta Chakrabarti, Shashi Tharoor, Shobhaa De and William Dalrymple, in person and online, £15-£50, British Library, Euston Road, NW1. Info: Library
Monday 16 June
* Poetry Readings with the Other Side of Hope, 7-8pm online, free. Info: Poetry reading
from Monday 16 June
* Refugee Week, comedy, music, performance, discussions, art, exhibitions - “the world’s largest arts and culture festival celebrating the contributions, creativity, and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary”: this year’s theme is ‘Community as a Superpower’. until 25 June. London events include 15 June, We Are The Many, one-day festival; Housing Policy and Migration, discussion, Southbank Centre; 17 June, Refugee Stories: In Their Own Words, Douna Haj Ahmed, Amanda Kamanda, Ali Gadheri, The Conduit; 18 June, Haiyu, documentary on Mariem Hassan and her relentless quest for Western Sahara’s liberation, Barbican; 19 June, Encounters, Kingston School of Art students explore migration and refuge through photography and architecture; 20 June, Bread and Roses, film about three women fighting to recover their autonomy after the Taliban returned to power in 2021 + discussion with director Sahra Mani, British Film Institute; 21 June, Top Comics Take the Stage, Refugee Week Fundraiser, Union Chapel; 29 June, Babylon Albion, Dalia Al-Dujaili’s poetic work draws from Arab mythology, English folklore and nature; Arab Film Club, shorts by refugee filmmakers, Southbank Centre; Details and more events: Refugee Week.
Tuesday 17 June
* A Sustainable Food Future: Can Cities Lead the Way?, webinar with Maryam Rezaei, Julia de Bruyn, Ashagrie Gibtan, Erick Omondi Ogalo, 11-12.30pm. Info: Overseas Development Institute
* The Earth convention: oceans and rivers, 7-8.30pm, £15, Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, SW7 2AR. Info: 5x15 website.
* Post-Migration Realities: What Can Grassroots Teach Us About Refugee Mental Health?, Nooralhaq Nasimi, 4-5.30pm, online. Info: King’s College
Exhibitions
* Unsilenced: Sexual Violence in Conflict, exhibits include sexual slavery of ‘Comfort Women Corps’ in World War Two and of Yazidi women and girls by ISIS in 2014, Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road SE1 6HZ until 2 November. Info: War Museum
+ Sexual violence in conflict: ‘The cheapest weapon known to man’
* 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
* Jose Maria Valasco: A View of Mexico, first UK show of work by the Mexican artist, from £12, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square WC2N 5DN until 17 August. Info: Gallery
* Ancient India: living traditions, the origins of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist sacred art in the nature spirits of ancient India – and how they live on 2,000 years later, from £16, British Museum, Great Russell Street, WC1B 3DG until 19 October. Info: Museum
+ Starring role for snakes in Ancient India exhibition
* 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
* Esther Mahlangu: Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu, brightly coloured geometric paintings rooted in South African Ndebele culture, free, Serpentine North, until 28 September. Info: Serpentine
* Women of the World Unite: the United Nations decade for women and transnational feminisms 1975 to now, Celebrate International Women’s Day weekend with a discussion of the representation of Black women in All About Love. London School of Economics Library, Houghton Street, WC2 until 22 August. Info: LSE
* 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
* Deutsche Borse Foundation Photography Prize, shortlist includes work by Lindokhule Sobekwa on poverty and long effects of apartheid in South Africa, and Tarah Krajnak, Peru, £10/£7, Photographers Gallery, Ramillies Street, W1, until 15 June. Info: Gallery
* Planetary Portals: I am in your dreams, but you are not in mine, weaves together the environmental landscapes of 19th-century mining of gold and diamonds in South Africa with the scripting process of AI, £10/£7, Photographers Gallery, Ramillies Street, W1, until 15 June. Info: Gallery
* Arpita Singh: Remembering, her first solo exhibition outside India, she draws from Bengali folk art and Indian stories, interwoven with experiences of social upheaval and global conflict, free, Serpentine North, until 27 July
* (Un)Layering the Future Past of South Asia: Young Artists’ Voices, 26 emerging artists from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal look at the history, memory, and identity of South Asia through a decolonial lens, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, WC1 until 21 June. Info: SOAS
* Eileen Perrier: A Thousand Small Stories and Dianne Minnicucci: Belonging and Beyond, free, Autograph, Rivington Place, EC2A 3BA, until 13 September. Info: Rivington Place
* Art of the Palestinian Poster, exhibition by artists who began Palestinian modern art – Vera Tamari, Sliman Mansour, Tayseer Barakat, and Nabil Anani – alongside contemporary artists such as Gazan Hazem Harb, Khaled El Haber and Haneen Nazzal, P21, 21 Chalton Street, NW1 1JD until 13 June. Info: P21
* 'Hamad Butt: Apprehensions, three-part installation of work by artist, born in Pakistan, died in London aged 32, Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High Street, E1 7QX until 1 July. Info: Gallery
from Tuesday 10 June
* Ghazaleh Avarzamani and Ali Ahadi: Freudian Typo, photography, sculpture, video work and found objects by two Iranian-Canadian artists which playfully critique Britain’s imperial past and how it manifests today, tracing connections between historical sources and current events in politics and finance, free, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre until 31 August. Info: Hayward
from Tuesday 17 June
* Earth Photo 2025 exhibition, Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, SW7 2AR. until 17 August. Info: RGS
Film
* The Encampments, documentary about the Palestine solidarity protests that erupted across university campuses in 2024, Barbican, Curzon Bloomsbury, Hackney Picturehouse until 12 June; National Film Theatre until 10 June
* Lou Ye: Chaotic Desires, retrospective dedicated to one of China’s great contemporary auteurs, Garden Cinema, until 22 June. Info: Chinese Cinema Project/
* New Lebanese Cinema: Reclaiming Storytelling, includes 9 June, 16 June, Lebanon in the UK: Diaspora Shorts + Q^A. Q&A. Garden cinema season, until 11 July. Info: Garden
from Wednesday 11 June
* Safar Film festival, programme includes 11 June, Watch Out For ZouZou; 12 June, Red Path, 14 June, Seeking Haven For Mr Rambo; My Memory Is Full of Ghosts; 15 June, Layla; 16 June, Where Do I Belong To; 18 June, The Village Next To Paradise; 19 June, The Tale of Daye’s Family; 20 June, Across the Sea; 21 June, The Brink of Dreams; 23 and 28 June, A State of Passion; 25 June, Saify; 27 June, Thank You For Banking With Us; The Brink of Dreams; Shifting Tides. The closing film on 28 June is Sudan, Remember Us, documentary that captures a collective portrait of Sudanese youth, dreaming of a new democratic Sudan + Q&A with director Hind Meddeb. Info: London Festival + the festival features a free programme of films from Lebanon throughout June. Each film will be hosted on the Aflamuna website (it’s a Beirut-based cultural non-profit).: all you need do is register for a free account.
Thursday 12 June
* Harvest: 3000 Years, one of the great African films of the 1970s, Haile Gerima’s magnificent account of the inequities of neo-colonial Ethiopia combines a neo-realist approach with experimental techniques, 8.10pm, £12.20-£14, National Film Theatre
* Seeds, short films celebrating emerging Black British filmmakers, 8pm, Everyman Stratford International. Info: We Are Parable
Saturday 14 June
* A Moment of Innocence, ingeniously revisiting an incident in the director’s own life, Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s film is one of the key Iranian films of the 1990s + intro by Makhmalbaf, 4pm, National Film Theatre
* Yugesh Walia and the Birmingham Film Workshop: African Oasis, screening of rarely-screened documentary about Birmingham's Wandsworth Cultural Centre - a haven for Afro-Caribbean communities in the city + discussion with Arike Oke, 3.50pm, £9, National Film Theatre
Sunday 15 June
* Finye (The Wind), screening in tribute to Malian director Souleymane Cissé, who died in February, whose drama tells a story of love and the generation gap in post-colonial Mali, 8.20pm, £12.20-£14, National Film Theatre
Performance
* Little Brother, the true story of Ibrahima Balde's journey from West Africa to Europe in an attempt to find his missing brother, £20-£35, Jermyn Street Theatre, 16b Jermyn Street, SW1Y 6ST until 21 June. Info; Jermyn Street Theatre
+ A story, and a life, that’s not easy to tell
* Elephant, delightful exploration of identity, part gig, part musical love story, part journey through Empire, £44.50-£35, Menier Chocolate Factory, 4 O'Meara Street, SE1 1TE, until 15 June. Info: Menier
+ Race, the elephant in the room
* Marriage Material, sweeping family portrait based around The Bains’ corner shop in Wolverhampton that has been at the centre of the family for three generations, by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti from the novel by Sathnam Sanghera, from £10, The Lyric, Lyric Square, King Street, W6 0QL until 21 June. Info: Lyric
* Shubbak Festival, the UK’s largest biennial festival of contemporary Arab arts and culture, theatre, performance, music, visual arts, literature, talks & workshops, family, experimental, fashion, “with an insistence on art in the face of crisis”, until 15 June. Programme includes 12 June, Talks to Reframe the Arab world; 13, 14, 17 June, Language: No Problem, multilingualism in the face of oppression.
* Miss Myrtle’s Garden, five characters from different backgrounds interact in the garden of an elderly, first-generation Jamaican woman with dementia, £10-£35, Bush Theatre, 7 Uxbridge Road, W12 8LJ until 12 July. Info: Bush
* STARS: An Afrofuturist Space Odyssey, Meet Mrs: an old lady who goes into outer space in search of her own orgasm, from £16, Brixton House, 385 Coldharbour Lane, SW9 8GL until 28 June. Info: Stars
Wednesday 11 June
* The Coat, staged reading of Athol Fugard play, 1pm, £15, Orange Tree Theatre, 1 Clarence Street, Richmond, TW9 2SA. Info: Orange Tree
from Saturday 14 June
* 54.60 Africa, blending story, song, and dance, 11 friends are given seven days to prove that Africa is a continent to be celebrated. Inspired by the creator’s travels to every African nation before his 60th birthday, £12-£39, Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin Street E8 3DL until 12 July. Info: Arcola
Monday 16 June
* Moongate Mixer, rehearsed reading of Tan Suet Lee’s Wendy and Min: wgen a third-generation British-born Chinese meets a PhD student from China, their relationship causes her family to re-evaluate what it means to be British and Chinese in the UK, 7.30pm, £6, Omnibus Theatre, 1 Clapham Common Northside SW4 0QW. Info: Omnibus
from Monday 16 June
* No Show, three new works, one of which is Steven Kavuma’s In These Four Walls, a response to the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020, and the subsequent global resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, from £15, Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, N4 3JP until 19 June. Park
Wednesday 18 June
* Lessons on revolution, play about students protests in 1968 demanding the university cut ties with apartheid-era Rhodesia + Q&A with writers and performers Sam Rees and Gabriele Uboldi, LSE Library archivist Lisa McQuillan, and LSE Department of Media and Communications Wendy Willems, 6-8pm, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, WC2, part of LSE Festival: Visions for the Future. Info: LSE
+ Revisiting 1960s class warfare
TV and radio
Sunday 8 June
* Our Guy in Vietnam, travelogue, 50 years since the war’s end, 9pm, Channel4
Monday 9 June
* Daughters of the Bamboo Grove, serialisation of new book about China’s one-child policy through the story of twin girls separated in 2001, 11.45am, Radio4
Tuesday 10 June
* Surviving Syria’s Prisons, documentary, 9pm, BBC2
* Daughters of the Bamboo Grove, serialisation of new book about China’s one-child policy through the story of twin girls separated in 2001, 11.45am, Radio4
* Thinking Allowed, discussion about personal possessions that reveal histories of slavery and genocide, 3.30pm, Radio4
Wednesday 11 June
* Surviving Syria’s Prisons, documentary, 11.30pm, BBC2
* The Artificial Human, the AI race between China and the US, 3.30pm, Radio4
* Daughters of the Bamboo Grove, serialisation of new book about China’s one-child policy through the story of twin girls separated in 2001, 11.45am, Radio4 + same time on 12 and 13 June
Thanks to volunteer Daniel Nelson (editor of Eventslondon.org) for compiling this list.