Events in London

Events in London

Talks and discussions

Tuesday 21 October

* Green Economy Forum, £146, The Conduit, 6 Langley Street WC2H 9JA. Info: The Conduit

* The 21st century resurgence of eugenics and scientific racism, Rebecca Sear, 3.30pm, University College London anthropology, 14 Taviton Street, WC1H OBW. Info: UCL

* Stella Dadzie: A Whole Heap of Mix Up, an important figure in the black women’s movement in Britain since the 1970s, 6.30 - 8pm, £3, The Feminist Library, 161 Sumner Road SE15 6JL. Info: Feminist Library

* Decade Zero: The fight for justice for people and planet, Asad Rehman, 4 - 5.30pm, online. Info: Institute of Development Studies

from Tuesday 21 October

* London Literature Festival. Programme includes 22 Oct, A Celebration of British-Somali Poetry, Elmi Ali, Samatar Elmi, Yusra Warsama and Warda Yassin, £12; 23 Oct, Bora Chung: The Midnight Timetable, £14; 25 Oct, Poetic Unity, performers from the Black-led charity, free; 26 Oct, Debut London Literature, including Lisa Smith, Funmi Fetto, Kelly Frost, from £14; 29 Oct, Jimi Famurewa: Picky. £15; Modern Poetry in Translation at 60, six decades of publishing work that deals truthfully with the contemporary world, with readings and poetry from Gaza, from £5; 30 Oct, Wasafiri: New Writing Prize 2025, including Dalia Al-Dujaili, Erica Hesketh, Monika Radojevic, Anita Barton-Williams, Sawad Hussain and Rahul Soni, £14; Iran: Poetry and Performance, £15; 31 Oct, Pankaj Mishra & Nesrine Malik: Equator, new magazine aiming to depict a new world that Western narratives have neglected, from £20; 1 Nov, On Palestine & Kashmir: Isabella Hammad & Mirza Waheed, discussion about Palestine and Kashmir, £14, 2 Nov, Zadie Smith: Dead and Alive, £20; Malala Yousafzai: Finding My Way,£29.50. Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road until 2 November. Info: Festival

Wednesday 22 October

* The Backstage of Democracy: India’s Election Campaigns and the People Who Manage Them, Amogh Dhar Sharma, 5pm, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, WC1. Info: SOAS

* China and the new world economic and technological order, Ramon Pacheco Pardo, Robyn Klingler-Vidra, Nikki Sun, James Kynge, 1-2.30pm, King’s College, Strand Campus, WC2R 2LS, part of the Lau China Institute’s China Week. Info: King’s

Thursday 23 October

* Voices for Change: Stories from the Environmental Movement, Areeba Hamid, Asad Rehman, Harriet Lamb and Tony Juniper, 7-8pm, £12, British Library, 96 Euston Road, NW1 2DB. Info: Library

* Why Comics? Telling Survivor Stories through Graphic Novels, Fransiska Louwagie, Erin Jessee, Alexander Korb, 6.30-8pm, The Wiener Holocaust Library, WC1B 5DP. Info: Holocaust Library

*  Voice Up Theatre Workshop, explore the effects of transgenerational trauma through the lived experience of people of colour, 5.30-8pm, free, Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road NW1 2BE. Info: Workshop

* Ask the experts: Global climate equality - is a fair future possible?, Giovanna Frisso, Jaya Gajparia, Chukwumerije Okereke, 6.30-7.45pm, free, online and British Academy, 10 Carlton House Terrace, SW1Y 5AH. Info. BA

* Do Economic Sanctions Work?, Chloie Cina, Maria Nizzero, Olga Dimitresc, 6:15-7:30pm, Institute of Archaeology, 31=34 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PY. Info: UCL

Friday 24 October

* Understanding 'green China' from the ground up, 11-12midday, King’s College, Strand Campus, Strand, WC2R 2LS, part of the Lau China Institute’s China Week. Info: King’s

Saturday 25 October

* K-Book Festival: Min Song-a in Conversation, the Webtoon sensation talks about her unique style of storytelling, 4-5.30pm, £10, Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road. Info: Foyles

Sunday 26 October

* Black British Theatre Awards, 6.30pm, from £36.75, Piccadilly Theatre, 16 Denman Street, W1D 7DY. Info: Awards

Monday 27 October

* Plants, politics and print in South Africa: Botany and buried books – Smuts, Gandhi and Mandela, Isabel Hofmeyr gives the first of three lectures on ‘Books in their Elements: Print culture in the age of climate change’, 6.30pm, free, British Library, 96 Euston Road, NW1. Info: Library

* Liberation and Corruption - Why Freedom Movements Fail, Peter Hain on his new book, 7pm, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street WC1. Info: SOAS

* Plundering Security? The Evolution of Khaki Capitalism in Contemporary Thailand, Paul Chambers, 5.15pm, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, WC1. Info: SOAS

* Missing From The Map: Gender, Race and Cartography, Bobby C. Martin,  Pragya Agarwal, 7.15pm, £12, British Library, 96 Euston Road, NW1 2DB. Info: Library

* Climate and Conflict,  Andrew Gilmour and Paddy O’Connell explore the intersection of climate, sustainability, peace and migration, 6.15pm, £16.80, The Conduit, 6 Langley Street WC2H 9JA. Info: The Conduit

* Global health & colonial history, Alex Mold, 5.30-6.30pm, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, WC1E 7HT. Info: LSHTM

from Monday 27 October

* Green Libraries Week, British Library events include 30 Oct, Plastic Circular Economy Trends and Libraries and Positive Action: Inform to Transform. Info: Green Libraries

Tuesday 28 October

* Global Perspectives: The Challenge of the Anthropocene, Dipesh Chakrabarty, 6.30-7.45pm, British Academy, 10-11 Carlton House Terrace, SW1Y 5AH. Info: BA

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​

* 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

*  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

* 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

* 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

from Friday 24 October

* 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

Film

* Souleymane’s Story, drama about 48 desperate hours in the life of a Guinean fast food courier in Paris, Picturehouses Finsury Park, Central, Ritzy; ICA, Garden until 23 October, Cine Lumiere until 25 October

+ Souleymane peddles for his life on the streets of Paris

* Cutting Through Rocks, as the first elected councilwoman of her Iranian village, Sara Shahverdi aims to break long-held patriarchal traditions, Curzon Bloomsbury until 23 October

+ Cutting through the patriarchy in an Iranian village

* Homebound, childhood friends from a small Indian village chase a police job but mounting desperation threatens the bond that unites them, Vue Shepherd’s Bush, 20 October; Riverside Studios, until 21 October

* Brides, two 15-year-old girls attempt to travel to Syria, Vues Finchley Road, Westfield London + 21 Oct, Picturehouses  Central, Clapham, Crouch End, Ealing, East Dulwich, Finsbury Park, Greenwich, Hackney, Ritzy; Vues Finchley Road, Westfield London; Vue West Norwood, North Finchley

Monday 20 October

* Black Girl (La Noire de …), Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene’s classic 1966 film about the hardships of a village girl chosen by a French woman to look after her children and family, 8.45pm, National Film Theatre + 30 October, 6.30pm

* One Way Or Another, 1974 film, combining documentary and drama, to tell the story of the aftermath of revolution in Cuba, 6.20pm, BFI Southbank

* Touki Bouki, 1973 film in which a Senegalese couple scheme to raise funds for a journey to Europe, grappling with the changes brought by independence, 6.30pm, BFI Southbank

Wednesday 22 October

* Made in Ethiopia, documentary about a large Chinese industrial park in rural Ethiopian town that finds itself at the new frontier of globalisation + Q&A with director Max Duncan and Charlotte Goodburn of the Lau China Institute, 6pm, Garden cinema

+ China-Africa development: ‘Those who fall behind get trampled on’

* Khartoum, five Sudanese people have their stories unexpectedly woven together in this evocative mosaic + Q&A, 6.20pm, Curzon Bloomsbury

+ Sudan’s war re-enacted in exile

* London Breeze, festival championing new creators. In person and online programme includes 22 Oct, The Banjo Boys, the exploits of a Malawian duo and Brit musician; 23 Oct, Mother City, South African doc; 25 Oct, The Stories We Need To Tell: Iraqi Film Showcase + Q&A; 26 Oct, Aswan International Women Film Festival Showcase.  Plus shorts, industry days, discussions, until 26 October. Info: London Breeze

Saturday 25 October

* Pressure, one of the defining films of Black British cinema, Herbert Ove’s 1975 film looks at the plight of a Black British teenager, 8.30pm, National Film Theatre

Sunday 26 October

* Soleil 0, 1967 film that shows an African migrant travelling to Paris, only to find rejection, indifference and prejudice, 2.30pm, National Film Theatre

Monday 27 October

* How to Build a Library, two tenacious Kenyan women take on the task of renovating Nairobi's historic library - but can they make a relic of empire relevant and accessible to 21st Century Kenyans? + Q&A, 6.20pm, Curzon Bloomsbury

from Monday  27 October

* The Kitchen Brigade, French comedy about a disgruntled chef who sets up a cafeteria at a local migrant shelter, JW3

* Mangrove, dramatised account of the 1971 British trial that highlighted racism at all levels of society, particularly the police, 8.30pm, National Film Theatre

Performance

* Uprooted - Ephemeral Ensemble, a tropical-punk, ecofeminist rallying cry inspired by the voices of displaced Latin American peoples and frontline environmental defenders, £3-£19, New Diorama Theatre, 15 - 16 Triton Street, NW1 3BF, until 25 October. Info: New Diorama

* Scenes From The Climate Era, vignettes of conversations around the climate crisis that shape our everyday lives, communities and the biological world around us, £22-£5, The Playground Theatre, Latimer Road W10 6RQ until 25 October. Info: Playground

* The Harder They Come, based on cult film that brought reggae to the world, it’s the story of an aspiring singer who tops the charts and the ’most wanted’ list, £16-£48.50, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Gerry Raffles Square E15 until 1 November. Info: Theatre Royal

Wednesday 22 - Friday 25 October

* 1884, an anticolonial game-theatre show, Includes a 30-minute post-show discussion, 12.30-3.30pm, 1-4pm, Wellcome Foundation, 183 Euston Road, NW1 2BE. Info: Wellcome

TV and radio

Monday 20 October

* Global Eye, current affairs, 7pm, BBC2

* Union Black: Fresh Cuts 2025,  Black Britons’ evolving identity, 11.40pm, ITV1

* Pooja, Sir,  when two boys are kidnapped in a border town in Nepal, a police detective sent from Kathmandu finds political unrest and violent protests throw her off course, and she is forced to seek help from a local policewoman, 2.40am, Channel4

Tuesday 21 October

* Mr and Mrs ‘55, Indian romcom set in Mumbai about a naive heiress forced into a marriage with an unemployed cartoonist to save her millions, 3.25am, Channel4

Wednesday 22 October

* Tropic of Cancer With Simon Reeve, through Egypt and Oman, 8pm, BBC2

Friday 24 October

* Unreported World, South Africa’s “slay queens” who are monetising the country’s dating culture, 7.309pm, Channel4

Thanks to volunteer Daniel Nelson (editor of Eventslondon.org) for compiling this list.