Events in London
» Whats On Events in London
Talks and discussions
Monday 15 December
* Middle East in Review 2025, Leila Molana-Allen, Karl Sharro, Faisal Al Yafai, 7pm, from £5.94, Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, W2 1QJ. Info: Frontline
Tuesday 16 December
* A ‘virtual mechanism’ for financing social protection and SDG recovery, Fardosa Abdullahi, Iffath A. Sharif, Kevin Watkins, Laure Beaufils, Renato Domith Godinho, 2 - 4pm, online and in person, Overseas Development Institute, 4 Millbank SW1P 3JA. Info: ODI
* Social protection in protracted crisis: Gender, equity and social inclusion, seminar with Rachel Slater, Carolina Holland-Szyp, Jackie Shaw, Brigitte Rohwerder, 12:30-2pm. Info: Institute of Development Studies
Thursday 18 December
* International Migrants Day festival, part of the Cultural Hangout Festival London 2025, stalls, cultural exhibitions, performance, panel discussion, workshops, including Creating a fairer system - challenging extortionate visa fees and longer settlement routes and Heritage Education as a Foundation for Tolerance and Mutual Respect, free legal advice and help desks + party, St John’s Church Hyde Park Crescent, W2 2QD. Info: [email protected]
Exhibitions
* Emergency Exits: The Fight for Independence in Malaya, Kenya and Cyprus, how post Second World War “Emergencies”, as they were termed by the UK, shaped Britain, its former territories and the modern world, Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road SE1 6HZ until 29 March. Info: IWM
* 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
* 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
* 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
* Sites of Life, explores how Arab artists imagine and enact life beyond the human, £5, 21 Gallery, 21-27 Chalton Street, NW1 1JD. Info: Exhibition
* Between the Door and the Dust, Gil Mualem-Doron’s examination of the deliberate destruction of homes and the worlds they sustain, from the 1948 Nakba to the West Bank occupation and the genocide in Gaza, £5, P21 Gallery, 21-27 Chalton Street, NW1 1JD. Info: P21
Film
* It Was Just An Accident, Jafar Panahi’s award-winning Iranian black comedy thriller is a powerful indictment of state-sponsored terror and a moving drama of individuals seeking to rebuild their lives after being subject to it, Cine Lumiere until 8 January; Picturehouses Central, Clapham, Crouch End, Ealing, Finsbury Park, Gate, Greenwich, Hackney, Ritzy, West Norwood; Odeon Luxe Holloway; Vue Islington, Lexi; ICA; National Film Theatre; Barbican
+ Twice-jailed Panahi spins a moral tale for our authoritarian times
* Palestine 36, exciting drama set in 1936 at the beginning of a three-year Arab uprising - against the British, Ritzy Picturehouse
+ Palestine 1936: A story for today
* Animalia,a pregnant young woman comes to terms with the privileged status of her in-laws and finds her freedom in this arresting, sci-fi tinged film that dissects the hypocrisies of Morocco's moneyed classes, the position of women in Muslim societies and limits of wealth, Barbican, Cine Lumiere until 18 December; Vues Finchley Road, Fulham Broadway, Westfield Stratford City
+ A sense of the uncanny makes Morocco uneasy
Monday 15 December
* Middle East in Review 2025, Leila Molana-Allen, Karl Sharro, Faisal Al Yafai, 7pm, from £5.94, Frontline Club, Norfolk Place, W2. Info: Frontline
Tuesday 16 December
* The New Black Film Collective: DSA Screenings, Simisola Akande – The Archive: Queer Nigerians; Adekemi Roluga – Fragments; Joan Iyiola – Dọlápọ̀ Is Fine; Jeremiah Towolawi – Missed + Q&A, 6:30 – 8pm, Royal Society of Arts, 8 John Adam Street WC2N 6EZ. Info: RSA
* The Six Billion Dollar Man: Julian Assange and the Price of Truth, blistering documentary about the man behind Wikileaks, 5.50pm, Curzon Bloomsbury. Info: https://www.thesixbilliondollarman.com/
+ ‘I plead guilty to journalism’, says the six billion dollar man
Tuesday 16, Thursday 18 December
* Dreamers, queer romance set in an immigration detention centre, where two UK asylum seekers find love and community in the face of darkness, National Film Theatre
Thursday 18 December
* The Silences of the Palace, 1994 film in which generations of women haunt a once grandiose Tunisian palace, whose secrets are dislodged by the return of a young woman who once called it home + intro by Ifriqiya Cinema, 6pm, National Film Theatre
Friday 19 December
* 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 film follows this unfolding family drama from all corners of the love triangle, 8.30pm, Curzon Bloomsbury + 24 December, 5.30pm; 26 December, 4pm; 1 January, 8pm
* The Six Billion Dollar Man: Julian Assange and the Price of Truth, blistering documentary about the man behind Wikileaks, Curzon Bloomsbury. Info: https://www.thesixbilliondollarman.com/
+ ‘I plead guilty to journalism’, says the six billion dollar man
Sunday 21 December
* BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions, Kahlil Joseph transforms his video art installation into an impressionistic inventory of the collective memories of Black people, Barbican cinema
Sunday 21, Tuesday 23, Saturday 27 December
* Sudan, Remember Us, documentary about young activists in Sudan filmed over four years, from the swell of hope following dictator Omar al-Bashir’s fall to the oppression of the military crackdown and subsequent civil war, Curzon Bloomsbury
+ Remember the Sudanese protesters who though their time had come
Monday 22 December
* Through the Olive Trees (Zir-e darakhtan-e zeyton), the final part of Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami’s Koker trilogy is a touching, funny account of how a (fictionalised) director returns to a village after its destruction by an earthquake to make a film, 6.15pm, National Film Theatre
* Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi recorded her video calls with photojournalist Fatma Hassona, creating a vivid video testimony of her daily life in Gaza, 6.10pm, Curzon Bloomsbury + 29 December, 4pm
* The Six Billion Dollar Man: Julian Assange and the Price of Truth, blistering documentary about the man behind Wikileaks, Picturehouses Central, Arts, Finsbury Park, Greenwich, Hackney, Ritzy,
+ ‘I plead guilty to journalism’, says the six billion dollar man
Saturday 27 December
* Xala, Ousmane Sembène’s 1975 adaptation of his own novel is a striking critique of economic, social and moral corruption, 11.45am, National Film Theatre
Sunday 28 December
* BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions, Kahlil Joseph transforms his video art installation into an impressionistic inventory of the collective memories of Black people, Barbican cinema
Performance
* 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
+ A Palestinian tale straight from the horse’s mouth
* 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
* Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, the lives of two US Marines, an Iraqi translator and a Bengal tiger collide, £12 - £57, Young Vic, 66 The Cut, SE1 8LZ until 31 January. Info: Young Vic
+ ‘Did he who made the lamb, make thee?’ The tiger replies
* Evita Too!, ”join the disco dictators as they tell the wild story of Isabel Perón, the go-go-dancer-turned-president who led Argentina for 18 disastrous months”, from £30, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road until 31 December. Info: Southbank Centre
Friday 19 December
* The Wish Tree, revival of a concept started by Good Chance theatre in the Calais Jungle, “with an extraordinary group of community members from displaced backgrounds in partnership with Migrants Organise”, 2pm, 7pm, free, Rich Mix, 35 - 47 Bethnal Green Road, E1 6LA. Info: Good Chance
Thursday 21 December
* Palestine Comedy Club x No Direction Home, Nish Kumar, Alaa Shehada and Sami Abu Wardeh, 6pm, profits “will directly support … mission to champion Palestinian artists, develop new work, and platform stories shaped by everyday realities under oppression”, £10 - £20, Bush Theatre, 7 Uxbridge Road, W12 8LJ. Info: Bush
TV and radio
Sunday 14 December
* Accidental Tourist, celeb in South Korea, 9pm, BBC1
* Crazy Rich Asians, comedy set in Singapore, 10.35pm, BBC2
* Sorry, I Didn’t Know, Black comedy quiz, 11.15pm, ITV1
Monday 15 December
* Global Eye, current affairs, 7pm, BBC2
* Faith, Hope and Glory, drama series charting the lives of three women, connected by the theft of a pram in Tilbury in 1946, who witness and participate in the emergence of modern Britain, 2.45pm, Radio4
Tuesday 16 December
* World’s Most Dangerous Roads, Morocco, 9.45pm, BBC2
* The Reith Lectures, AI and unchecked tech, 9am, Radio4
Thursday 18 December
* Accidental Tourist, celeb in South Korea, 11.05pm, ITV1
Friday 19 December
* Sorry, I Didn’t Know, Black comedy quiz, 11.40pm, ITV1
* The Food Programme, on dates,11am, Radio4
Saturday 20 December
* World’s Most Dangerous Roads, Morocco, 7.30pm, BBC2
* Crazy Rich Asians, comedy set in Singapore, 12.50am, BBC3
Thanks to volunteer Daniel Nelson (editor of Eventslondon.org) for compiling this list.