Events in London
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Talks and discussions
Monday 23 February
* Are you a social entrepreneur or NGO manager navigating the current anti-“woke” backlash?, Colette Fox, Elaine Siu, Cliff Oswick, Henri Schildt, Maggie Chen, Yanfei Hu, Itziar Castelló, 8.10 - 9.45am, free, Bayes Business School, 33 Finsbury Square, EC2A 1AG. Info: City St Georges
* The World in 2026, Fiona Hill, 7pm, from £19.99, Union Chappel, Upper Street, 19b Compton Terrace, N1 2UN. Info: Intelligence Squared
* Embedded Generations: Family life and social change in contemporary China, Jieyu Liu’s book launch, 5pm, SOAS, 10 Thornhaugh Street WC1H 0XG
* Discourses of solidarity fatigue and misrecognition in the context of Ukrainian displacement, Rob Sharp discusses Ukrainian refugee experiences through the politics of recognition, 4-5pm, UCL Knowledge Lab, 23 Emerald Street, WC1N 3QS. Info: Institute of Education
Tuesday 24 February
* The Go-Home Office: Border Forces since 1962, Juanita Cox, Liam Liburd and Bobby Phe Amis discuss how border control has changed and how the Home Office participates in the politics of immigration and race-making, 5 - 7.30pm, Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road E1 6LA. Info: Birkbeck
* An Evening with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 7pm, from £29.99, Barbican Hall, Barbican Centre, Silk Street EC2Y 8DS. Info: Intelligence Squared
* An introduction to public law for environmental campaigners, Alex Shattock, Natasha Jackson, Joe Haydn, Naomi Luhde-Thompson, 11 - 12.30pm, online. Info: Public Law Project
Wednesday 25 February
* Refugee Week 2026 Conference, how to get involved in this year's festival (15 - 21 June), 10.30am - 1pm, online. Info: Refugee Week.
* Fragile Hope: Seeking Justice for Hate Crime in India, Sandhya Fuchs talks about her new book, 5 - 6.30pm, King’s College, Bush House south-east wing, Strand campus
* Indie Night, Deepa Anappara, Khairani Barokka, Vigdis Hjorth, Tim MacGabhann, Okechukwu Nzelu and Eliza Clark celebrate independent publishers, 7.45pm, from £15, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road. Info: Southbank Centre
* Financing in protracted crises: Lessons from education, health and social protection, S. Ali Abbas, Abdul Kader Alaeddin, Adnan Khan, Freddie Carver, Abdulkarim Ekzayez, Tom Hart,Olya Homonchuk, Hans Peter Lankes, Simon McNorton, Sara Pantuliano, Juliet Parker, Mike Pearson, 9.30am - 6pm, in person and online, Overseas Development Institute, 4 Millbank SW1P 3JA. Info: ODI
Thursday 26 February
* Faith, homosecularism and LGBTIQ+ asylum in the UK, Diego García Rodríguez, 12 - 1.30pm, 55 - 59 Gordon Square, WC1H 0NT. Info: Institute of Education
* Beyond the Hostile Environment: A New Vision for Migrant Domestic Workers, Mimi Jalmasco, Grace Nine, Alison Spencer-Scragg, Simon Israel, Alzua, Carol, Christina, Christine Joy, Dannah, Fawzia, Marigold, Mary Queen, Mercy, Vangie, Rose Ann, Ritchel, Hina Bokharin, 6.30 - 8pm, City Law School Building, Clerkenwell campus, Sebastian Street, Northampton Square, EC1V 0HB. Info: City University
* Crossings: Migrant Knowledges, Migrant Forms, Natalya Din-Kariuki, 6 - 8pm, £10, students free, SOAS University of London, 10 Thornhaugh Street, W1CH 0XG. Info: SOAS
* Exploring rangeland myths: Mobility drives conflict and insecurity, new ways of seeing rangelands, Teklehaymanot G. Weldemichel and Linda Pappagallo, online, 11am - 12.30pm. Info: Institute of Development Studies
Friday 27 February
* Celebrating Queer Migration Stories, an evening of storytelling and creativity as part of LGBTQIA+ History Month celebrated, 7 - 11pm, £18, Queens House, Royal Museums Greenwich. Info: Migration Museum
* Safeguarding democracy: civil liberties and the right to protest in the UK, Sir David Davis MP and Akiko Hart. Info: IPPR / [email protected]
* Rethinking guarantees in development finance: the role of specialist guarantee companies, report launch with Hans Peter Lankes, Hassatou Diop N'Sele, William Perraudin, Kathrin Muehlbronner, Ed Mountfield, Ross Ferguson, Lasitha Perera, Chinua Azubike, Denesh Srishanker, 2 - 3.30pm, online. Info: Overseas Development Institute
Saturday 28 February
* From Here To There – African and African Diasporic Poetry II, Rene' Level, Zonia Level, Erica Moses and Annmarie Rubie, Sarpong Agyemang, Aliker p’Ocitti, Zita Holbourne and Nandi Jola, 6 - 7.30pm, online. Info: Africa Migration Report Poetry Anthology Series
from Saturday 28 February
* Jewish Book Week. Programme includes 1 March, The West, the Jews and a Broken Promise, 11am; On Israel and Palestine, 2pm; Navigating Crisis: Jewish Communities in the UK and Israel, 2pm; A poetry of migration, 3.30pm; Unpacking Israel and Palestine, 6.30pm; Britain at a crossroads, 7.30pm; In Gaza’s Wake, 8pm; 8 March, Israel behind the headlines, 12.30pm; Across the Divide: Jewish & Arab Israeli Women, 2pm. King’s Place, York Way, N1 9AG until 8 March. Info: Book Week
Monday 2 March
* The profits of war, Iain Overton, Justin Schlosberg, 7pm, from £5.94, Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, W2 1QJ. Info: Frontline
* The Making and Unmaking of a World Order, Rana Dasgupta and Mishal Husain discuss the future of the nation-state system, 6.15 - 7.30pm, £16.80/ £6.f0 livestream, The Conduit, 6 Langley Street, WC2H 9JA. Info: The Conduit
* HIstory, Gaza and the question of genocide, Ussama Makdish asks why when many in the West proclaim the universality of law and human rights, is Muslim and Christian Palestinian life so consistently devalued, 7pm, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, WC1. Info: SOAS
* China’s hetersexual politics: between ambiguities of governance and everyday injustices, Stevi Jackson and Kailing Xie, 5 - 6.30pm, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, WC1
* Climate and development finance in a fast-changing world, Mahmoud Mohieldi, 5.15 - 6.45pm, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, WC1
* The environmental politics of Donald Trump: re-framing Trump’s wars through a focus on energy, Thea Riofrancos, Patrick Schröder, Sean Kenji Starrs, 4- - 5pm, online. Info: Royal Geographical Society
Tuesday 3 March
* The use and abuse of UK ‘counter-terrorism’ powers, Sultana Tafadar KC, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Narzanin Massoumi, Simon Crowther, Alba Kapoor, 7 - 8.30pm, online. Info: Amnesty
* South Africa: A Beaming Hope for the Continent in the Near Dearth of Multilateralism, discussion on the emergence and strengthening of the South African voice on the global scale, 12 - 1.30pm, online. Info: King’s College
* HNPW 2026 – Housing across the HDP [humanitarian–development–peace] nexus: protection, rights and recovery, Jim Robinson, Viktoriia Moskaliuk, Skylar Kogelschatz, Leilani Farha, 1.30 - 3pm, online. Info: Overseas Development Institute
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
+ 28 February, Discussion Day, Yasmin Khan, Rose Miyonga, Maria Hadjiathanasiou, Bethany Rebisz, David Anderson, Huw Bennett, Karl Hack, 2 - 7pm, £30
* Hawaiʻi: a kingdom crossing oceans, a celebration of art and history, £14/ £16, British Museum, Great Russell Street, WC1B 3DG until 25 May. Info: Hawai’i
* A Greenland shadow over a wonderful Hawai’i exhibition
* 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 – work by historical Indian botanical artists, admission with Kew entry fee, Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, Kew Gardens until 12 April
+ The Singh Twins light up the links between empire and botany
+ The Singh Twins spotlight Kew’s role in the business of Empire
* 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
* Nigerian Modernism, Nigerian artists working before and after the decade of national independence from British colonial rule in 1960, Tate Modern, Bankside SE1 9TG until 10 May. Info: Tate
* 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
* Sudan: A Visual Art Narrative – Second Generation Exhibition. Almas Art Foundation, Arch 28 Old Union Yard Arches, 229 Union Street, SE1 0LR until 7 March. Info: Almas Art
* I Still Dream of Lost Vocabularies, examination of political dissent and erasure through collage, Sabrina Tirvengadum, Sunil Gupta, Qualeasha Wood, Jess Atieno, Sheida Soleimani, free, Autograph, Rivington Place, EC2A 3BA until 21 March. Info: Exhibition
* 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
* 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
* Target Queen, large-scale commission by British-Indian artist Bharti Kher, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre
* Charlie Phillips - Somewhere, Somehow, work by the Jamaican immigrant who became one of Britain’s greatest photographers, Riverside Studios, 101 Queen Caroline Street W6 9BN until 9 March. Info: Riverside
* Tixinda, A Snail’s Purple, exhibition about a sea snail whose ink can be milked to produce a purple pigment known as Tyrian or Royal purple, by British-Mexican artist Melanie Smith and Patricio Villarreal Ávila, Peltz Gallery, 43 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PD, until 11 March. Info: Pellz
* Water Pantanal Fire, photography exhibition revealing the fragile beauty of the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland that sprawls across Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, free, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 2DD until 31 May. Info: Museum
* To Survive To Witness, works by Gaza-based Palestinian artist Marwan Nassar created during the 2023-25 war in Gaza, P21, 21-27 Chalton Street, NW1 1JD until 13 March. Info: P21
* Bouchra Khalili: Circles and Storytellers, the culmination of the French-Moroccan artist and educator’s long exploration of the Mouvement des Travailleurs Arabes and its theatre groups, Al Assifa and Al Halaka, free, Mosaic Rooms, 226 Cromwell Road, SW5 0SW until 14 June. Info: Mosaic
from Wednesday 25 February
* Beatriz González, the groundbreaking Colombian artist explores the power and impact of the images we encounter every day, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS until 10 May. Info: Barbican
Performance
* Sweatmeats, a touching love story between two South Asian elders begins in a London diabetes clinic when a “scary Indian woman” meets an “irritating Pakistani man”, £10 - £35, Bush Theatre, 7 Uxbridge Road, W12 8LJ, until 21 March. Info: Bush
+ A British-Indian~Pakistani rom com sparked by diabetes
* The Ophiolite, when Takis dies in Britain, a bitter feud erupts over where he should be buried. For his Cypriot family, ancient tradition must be respected; for his English wife, a promise he made in life is binding, Theatro Technis, 26 Crowndale Road, NW1 1TT until 29 February. Info: Theatro Technis
Friday 27 February
* To Ebb Is To Flow, creatives from East and Southeast Asia (including Miamor, Zhuyang Liu, Alya Hatta, Xiaoxin Li, Natasha Tontey, Yan Wang, Luo Yang, Yuqiang Sun Preston, Hannah Lim, Haffendi Anuar, Carrie Chan) reimagine gender, 6.30 - 10pm, free, V&A Museum, Cromwell Road SW7 2RL. Info: Victoria & Albert Museum
* Ukraine Unbroken, cycle of short plays by Ukrainian and British writers about courage, truth and survival in the face of tyranny, £15 - £39, Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin Street E8 3DL until 28 March. Info: Arcola
Tuesday 3 March
* Imelania, Melania Trump as an avatar of an “acceptably” foreign woman, obscuring and questioning experiences of being foreign in post-Brexit Britain, online, 8pm, part of Camden People’s Theatre’s Sprint 2026. Info: CPT
Tuesday 3 - Thursday 5 March
* Suppliants of Syria, interactive multimedia performance exploring asylum, media and democracy + post-show discussions, with live music; 3, 5 March, Rama Alcoutlabi; 4, 7 March, Rihab Azar; 6 March, Sounds Like Home international women's choir; 8 March, Amies Freedom Choir; £15/ £30, Hoxton Hall, 130 Hoxton Street N1 6SH. Info: Border Crossings
Film
* My Father’s Shadow, two brothers connect with their father in this drama set against the backdrop of the 1993 Nigerian presidential election, BFI Southbank, Curzon Bloomsbury, Rio, Barbican; Lexi; Rio Picturehouses Finsbury Park, Hackney, Ritzy; 26 February ICA
+ A father’s shadow - and the shadow of a Nigerian coup
+ Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù: ’If the west doesn’t say a film is good, that doesn’t mean it’s no good’
* The President’s Cake, despite hardships in 1990s Iraq, Saddam Hussein requires every school to prepare a cake to celebrate his birthday. So 9-year-old Lamia must use her wits to gather ingredients for the cake or face punishment; Finsbury Park Picturehouse; until 25 February Cine Lumiere
+ A girl, a boy, a rooster and a cake for Saddam
* 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, Curzon Bloomsbury; 23 February ICA + Q&A with Panahi,
+ Twice-jailed Panahi spins a moral tale for our authoritarian times
* No Other Choice, a man’s desperation to secure a new job finds him exploring unique ways to eliminate his competitors, in South Korean director Park Chan-wook’s madcap thriller; cinemas all over town
* The Secret Agent, Brazilian political thriller; cinemas all over town
* I’m Migrant Film Festival, film from the SWANA region. programme includes 24 Feb, Home Truths, stories exploring relationships and private lives; 27 Feb, I’m Migrant, two documentary portraits. Genesis Cinema.
+ I’m Migrant Film Festival is back
* Masterpieces of the Iranian New Wave, sexuality, identity and oppression explored with honesty, until 26 February. Programme includes 24 Feb, The Night It Rained + documentary shorts by Ebrahim Golestan; 25 Feb, Dancer of the City; 26 Feb, Secrets of the Jinn Valley Treasure. Info: Barbican
* All That’s Left of You, Palestinian American director Cherien Dabis takes us on an epic and poignant journey through a Palestinian family's 75-year history; 23 February National Film Theatre; until 26 February ICA
Monday 23 February
* Niñxs, filmed over eight years in a small Mexican town 15-year-old Karla tells her own coming-of-age story as she navigates life as a trans teenager + filmmaker Q&A, 6.20pm, Curzon Bloomsbury
Tuesday 24 February
* The Last Ambassador, What do you do as an ambassador for Afghanistan when the Taliban take power and you are a feminist? You fight back - at least if you're Manizha Bakhtari + Q&A with Bakhtari, Curzon Bloomsbury
Wednesday 25 February
* I Am Not Your Negro, the history of racism in the US, making use of text from James Baldwin’s unfinished book, 8pm, Rich Mix
* Do You Love Me, playful and personal journey through archival footage of Lebanon, a fragmented history in a country without a national archive, celebrating creative expression as resistance, renewal and a way to preserve memory, Curzon Bloomsbury, ICA
Wednesday 25 - Thursday 26 February
* Cutting Through Rocks, extraordinary documentary about Sara Shahverdi, an indomitable, motorcycle-riding divorcee and the first woman to be elected to the council of her Iranian village - provoking a backlash, 2.30pm, Curzon Bloomsbury
+ Cutting through the patriarchy in an Iranian village
Thursday 26 February
* The Last Ambassador, Afghanistan’s last female ambassador and her tireless commitment to the rights of women and girls in her country + Q&A with Manizha Bakhtari, 7pm, from £5.94, Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, W2. Info: Frontline
* Black History Studies: Afeni Shakur and the Trial of the Black Panther 21 & Liberty, double-bill + discussion led by Charmaine Simpson, 7pm, £13 (concessions available), Lexi
from Friday 27 February
* The Secret Agent, political thriller set in 1970s Brazil that entertains as much as it provokes, Lexi until 4 March
* Art and Multiculturalism, a look at the artistic and social spaces created by multicultural communities and documented by multicultural TV, 6.20pm, National Film Theatre
* The Subnormal Scandal, the scandal of ESN schools had a lasting legacy in British schools. This programme looks at how education was covered in multicultural programming, 8.40pm, National Film Theatre
* BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions, genre-defying debut feature from artist and filmmaker Khalil Joseph, from £12.50, Wednesday, Saturdays and Sundays, 180 Studios, 180 Strand, Surrey Street WC2R 1EA until 27 March.
Thursday 28 February
* Black History Studies: Afeni Shakur and the Trial of the Black Panther 21 & Liberty, double bill + Q&A with Charmaine Simpson, 7pm, Lexi. Info: Lexi
from Sunday 1 March
* Amores Perros, three stories of animalistic desire drive this modern Mexican classic, the debut of Alejandro González Iñárritu, 3pm, BFI Southbank + 5, 9 March
Monday 2 March
* A Focus on the Bandung File, perhaps the most famous show to emerge from the UK’s multicultural movement + Tariq Ali and Matthew Barrington in conversation, 7.10pm, BFI Southbank
Tuesday 3 March
* Hostage, the story of British photojournalist John Cantlie, who was kidnapped in Syria and fell into the hands of a group of British extremists who would later become known as The Beatles, 7pm, from £5.94, Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, W2 1Qj. Info: Frontline
TV and radio
Saturday 21 February
* Sikisa’s Border Control, comedy with immigration solicitor and stand-up comedian Sikisa Bostwick-Barnes, 11pm, Radio4
Sunday 22 February
* BBC Radio 1Xtra Comedy Gala With Eddie Kadi and Friends, new voices from the Black comedy circuit, 11.40pm, BBC1
* Desert Island Discs, Roula Khalaf, the British-Lebanese editor of the Financial Times, 10am, Radio4
Monday 23 February
* Global Eye, current affairs magazine, 7pm, BBC2
* How did we get here?, series on the origins of the Middle East conflict, 8pm, Radio4
* Full Moon on Progress Street, five programmes looking at the music and contributions to social change of five Black female musicians: Sarah Vaughan, 9.45pm, Radio3
Tuesday 24 February
* Weathered: Earth’s Extremes, six-parter on the climate crisis, 8.30pm, PBS America
* History’s Heroes, Cardinal Sin and a political revolution in The Philippines, 3pm, Radio4
* Full Moon on Progress Street, five programmes looking at the music and contributions to social change of five Black female musicians: Bessie Smith 9.45pm, Radio3
Wednesday 25 February
* Weathered: Earth’s Extremes, six-parter on the climate crisis, 8.30pm, PBS America
* Full Moon on Progress Street, five programmes looking at the music and contributions to social change of five Black female musicians: Abbey Lincoln, 9.45pm, Radio3
* Slim’s Guide To Life, series in which a 53-year-old stand-up looks back at his Black British teenagerdom, 11pm, Radio4
Thursday 26 February
* Weathered: Earth’s Extremes, six-parter on the climate crisis, 8.40pm, PBS America
* Full Moon on Progress Street, five programmes looking at the music and contributions to social change of five Black female musicians: Ma Rainey, 9.45pm, Radio3
Friday 27 February
* Syria after Assad, 10.25am, PBS America
* The Food Programme, the future of food in The Philippines, 11am, Radio4
* Full Moon on Progress Street, five programmes looking at the music and contributions to social change of five Black female musicians: Josephine Baker, 9.45pm, Radio3
Thanks to volunteer Daniel Nelson (editor of Eventslondon.org) for compiling this list.