Speaking for Ourselves

Events in London

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14/04/2025

Events in London

Talks and discussions

Saturday 23 August

* Stop Arming Israel, Day of Action. Info: Palestine Solidarity Organisation

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’

* 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

* Earth Photo 2025 exhibition, Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, SW7 2AR. until 20 August. Info: RGS

* 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

* 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

* 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

* Eileen Perrier: A Thousand Small Stories and Dianne Minnicucci: Belonging and Beyond, free, Autograph, Rivington Place, EC2A 3BA, until 13 September. Info: Rivington Place

* 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

* Said Dicko: Tracing Shadows, the multimedia artist from Burkina Faso paints over his prints to create unique work, free, Photographers Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, W1F 7LW until 7 September. Info: tpg.org.uk

* 0710 Journeys, Wayne Campbell’s photographs of Gaza protests in Britain and the everyday landscape of the occupied West Bank, £5, P21 Gallery, 21 Chalton Street NW1 1JD until 5 September. Info: P21

* Wellcome Photography Prize, top 25 entries from categories including health problems in South Africa and climate change, free, Wednesdays–Saturdays, Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, NW1 1AT until 18 October. Info: Exhibition

* More Than Human, how design can help the planet thrive by shifting its focus beyond human needs, £14.38 students £5, Design Museum, 224-238 Kensington High Street W8 6AG, until 5 October. Info; Design Museum

* Virtual Beauty, exploring the impact of digital culture and technologies on the traditional definitions of beauty today, pay what you can, Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 1LA until 28 September. Info: Somerset House

* 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

Film

Wednesday 20 August

* Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi recorded her video calls over a year with photojournalist Fatma Hassona, creating a vivid video testimony of her daily life in Gaza (20 Aug, + filmmaker Q&A, 6.20pm), Curzon Bloomsbury until 3 September

Thursday 21 August

* Bumming in Beijing,(director's cut), Wu Wenguang's documentary is widely regarded as a founding work of Chinese independent cinema, 8pm, Garden cinema

* Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, megalith of a documentary teases out the complex, sordid details of Congo's liberation from Belgian colonial rule in 1960, through to the assassination of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba months later, 8pm, Curzon Bloomsbury

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

from Thursday 21 August

* Central Station, a retired school teacher and a young boy become travelling companions when the boy is suddenly orphaned and must find his estranged father, 5.15pm, + 23, 24, 27 August, Lexi, part of Brazilian Summer Nights season

Friday 22 August

* The Ceremony, two undocumented migrants working alongside each other in a Bradford car wash are dragged into an escalating moral crisis + director Q&A, 6.10pm, £12.20-£14, National Film Theatre

Saturday 23 August

* The Harder They Fall, attitude and music aplenty in this landmark Jamaican crime adventure has attitude and music, 3pm, £12.20 - £14, National Film Theatre

from Saturday 23 August

* Mistress Dispeller, desperate to save her marriage, a woman in China hires a professional to go undercover and break up her husband’s affair. Elizabeth Lo's astonishingly intimate Mistress Dispeller follows this unfolding family drama from all corners of the love triangle, Curzon Bloomsbury until 28 August

Sunday 24 August

* Neighbouring Sounds, ensemble drama as a handful of residents in a middle-class street in Recife react to the appearance of a gang of private security guards who offer householders the promise of protection, 5pm, Lexi, part of Brazilian Summer Nights season

Performance

* The Estate, the opposition leader, has been forced to resign in a scandal. Against the odds and Angad Singh emerges as the favourite — if his sisters keep their mouths shut, in Shaan Sahota’s debut play, National Theatre, South Bank SE1 9PX until 23 August. Info: National

* The Camden Fringe, over 400 shows, the London alternative to the Edinburgh Fringe. Programme. Borough of Camden until 24 August. Info: https://camdenfringe.com