Events in London
» Whats On Events in London
Talks and discussions
Monday 10 November
* Fault lines: The new political economy of a warming world, Helen Milner, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, WC2A 2AE
Tuesday 11 November
* Understanding Colourism in UK School and Colleges, Aisha Phoenix, Nadia Craddock, Jamila Thompson, 12.30 - 1.30pm, online. Info: Kings College
Wednesday 12 November
* Book Launch: Slavery in the British Empire and its Legacy in the Modern World, Steve Cushion links the histories of capitalists and workers in Britain and the Caribbean, and the dynamics of profit-seeking & exploitation on both sides of the Atlantic, 5.30 - 7pm, online. Info: University College London
* The security we need: rebalancing military spending for a sustainable and peaceful future, Izumi Nakamitsu, 5 - 6.30pm, online. Info: Overseas Development Institute
Thursday 13 November
* The future of food, Paul Behrens, Rebecca Earle, Peter Jackson, 6.30 - 7.45pm, free, in person and online, The British Association, 10-11 Carlton House Terrace SW1Y 5AH. Info: BA
* Destitution by design, Rachel Rosen and Eve Dickson report on the impacts of impoverished migrant families without access to mainstream welfare in the UK, 1 - 2pm. Info: University College London
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
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
+ 13 November, In Conversation with… the artists
from Thursday 13 November
* 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
* Souleymane’s Story, drama about 48 desperate hours in the life of a Guinean fast food courier in Paris, Lexi
+Souleymane pedals for his life on the streets of Paris
* Khartoum, five Sudanese people have their stories unexpectedly woven together in this evocative mosaic, until 10 November, Curzon Bloomsbury
+ Sudan’s war re-enacted in exile
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, Curzon Bloomsbury, Curzon Soho, Hackney Picturehouse, Cine Lumiere, Lexi, Garden
+ Palestine 1936: A story for today
* London Korean Film Festival (LKFF), the biggest yet, with films from Korea’s all-time box-office champion Roaring Currents to current releases: films for family audiences, thrillers, costume dramas, comedies, dramas, even a dark adult fantasy, until 14 November. Info: LKFF
* UK Jewish Film Festival, until 16 November online selection 19 - 27 November. Info: Festival
Tuesday 11 November
* Touki Bouki, A restless young couple dream of escaping Senegal for Paris, in one of the key works of African cinema, 8.50pm, National Film Theatre
* Souleymane’s Story, drama about 48 desperate hours in the life of a Guinean fast food courier in Paris, Garden + 13 November
+Souleymane pedals for his life on the streets of Paris
Wednesday 12 November
* Saint Omer, a Senegalese woman is accused of murdering her 15-month-old child by leaving her on a French beach in this original approach to courtroom drama + intro by Xavier Alexandre Pillai, 5:45pm, National Film Theatre
Thursday 13 November
* Haitian Corner, Raoul Peck’s powerful drama journeys to a small nook in New York City, where a tale of vengeance that began in Haiti plays out, 8:55pm, National Film Theatre
from Thursday 13 November
* French Film Festival London, programme includes It Was Just an Accident, Jafar Panahi’s brilliant thriller in the aftermath of political repression; Yes!, Israeli director Nadav Lapid continues his reflection on Israeli society; Black to the Future, comedian Jean-Pascal Zadi on the launch of the first African space mission in secrecy to explore a potential planetary refuge for the wider diaspora; The Voice of Hind Rajab, Kaouther Ben Hania’s docudrama; Little Sister, a personal account of a young French-Algerian woman forging her identity in Paris; Ciné Lumière, 17 Queensberry Place, SW7 2DT until 23 November. Info: Festival
+ Twice-jailed Panahi spins a moral tale for our authoritarian times
* HollyShorts London Film Festival, includes 15 Nov, Rise, a defiant young Zimbabwean boy surviving on a rubbish dump dreams of becoming a boxer; Magod / Zafar, childhood friends confront their diverging futures amidst the heat and chaos of a British Pakistani takeaway; 16 Nov, Largo, follows a 10-year-old Syrian refugee in foster care in the UK who builds a boat in a desperate attempt to sail home and find his missing parents; Overcomer, drama exploring themes of self-acceptance, societal pressure and familial expectations, against the backdrop of a Black woman’s experience in London. Vue West End, until 16 November. Info: Holly Shorts
Friday 14 November
* Pressure, classic of Black British cinema captures the struggle of young British West Indians as they attempt to make their way through life, 6.10pm, National Film Theatre + 23 November
* Colossal Wreck, one man’s view of the COP28 climate conference in Dubai
from Friday 14 November
* London Palestine Film Festival, 19 features + shorts, including 15 Nov, Yalla Parkour, the bond between filmmaker Areeb Zuaitar and Ahmed Matar, member of free-running troupe PK Gaza; 16 Nov, Palestine 36, drama set in 1936 Mandatory Palestine, as Yusuf flees his rural home for Jerusalem’s charged streets, forced to confront colonial rule, rising migration and the inexorable drift toward a defining revolt; 17 Nov, The Palestine Exception, takes you to the heart of the largest anti-war movement on US college campuses since the 1970s; 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, Houda; 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 the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip; 25 Nov, 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 features, documentaries, shorts, discussions, masterclass, a special spotlight on the D R Congo (DRC), a Souleymane Cissé retrospective; and female stories such as 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, which follows a young girl in northern Kenya who escapes a forced marriage to pursue her dream of education. and 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 that changes everything; 14 Nov, My Father’s Shadow, during Lagos’ 1993 election unrest, an estranged father and his two young sons navigate a city in turmoil; 23 Nov, Katanga, a prophecy leaves Katanga destined to seize the crown or lose his life in a tense 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?
* 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
Saturday 15 November
* Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet, the story of beloved Korean poet Yoon Dong-ju’s youth and resistance under Japanese occupation, 11:45am, National Film Theatre
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’;s 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
Performance
* 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, including 13 Nov, Neither Here Nor There, two women, one second-generation Chinese-Spanish, the other Danish, Nigerian and Italian, explore identity, prejudice, and the search for belonging. 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
* 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
TV and radio
Sunday 9 November
* Thailand: The Dark Side of Paradise, three-part documentary, 10.55pm, BBC3
* Immigration: The Danish Way, documentary inquiry, 1.30pm, Radio4
Monday 10 November
* Lawrence of Arabia, still watchable 1962 epic, 4.40pm, Film4
* Global Eye, current affairs, 7pm, BBC2
* Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel’s War, Israeli soldiers talk about their experiences, 10.45pm, BBC1
* Empire With David Olusoga, new series, 11pm, BBC2
* Capernaum, Lebanese drama about a 12-year-old Beirut street urchin who sues his parents in court for bringing him into a world of desperate poverty and teams up with a young Ethiopian refugee whose infant becomes his companion, 1.30am, Film4
* Storytelling in a time of ecological crisis, 9am, Radio4
Tuesday11 November
* Tipping Point, Hannah Khalil’s drama about how an architect’s dream to transform her country threatens to rip it apart, 2.15pm, Radio4
* UNESCO: From cultural diplomacy to culture wars, Rana Mitter investigates, 3pm, Radio4
Wednesday 12 November
* Tropic of Cancer With Simon Reeve, Laos, Vietnam and Hawaii, 8pm, BBC2
Friday 14 November
* Unreported World, the murders of Israel’s Arab citizens, 7.30pm, Channel4
* Empire With David Olusoga, second in series takes up the story in the 1770s, 9pm, BBC2
* Belen, true story film based on the case of an Argentinian woman jailed for homicide after a miscarriage.
* The Food Programme, UK reliance on west Africa for fresh food, 11am, Radio4
Saturday 15 November
* Bettany Hughes’ Treasures of the World, Oman, 7pm, Channel 4
Thanks to volunteer Daniel Nelson (editor of Eventslondon.org) for compiling this list.