From the Editor
* More than 70 per cent of Black theatre professionals have found industry diversity initiatives purely "symbolic" and insufficient to provoke change, says a report in The Stage on an inaugural report by the Black British Theatre Awards.
* The London Film Festival is underway, until 20 October. Festival films and events can be found here. This month also sees Rewriting the Rules, Pioneering Indian Cinema after 1970, London Breeze Film Festival, Film Africa, and Echoes In Time: Korean Films of the Golden Age and New Cinema.
Daniel Nelson london.globalevents@gmail.com X: @EventsNelson
TALKS AND MEETINGS
Saturday 12-Sunday 13 October
* Reinterpreting History and Memory: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa, Hamid Keshmirshekan, Charlotte Bank, Isabelle de le Court, Hamid Dabashi, Iftikhar Dadi, Vasif Kortun, Driss Ksikes, Siobhan M Shilton, Serubiri Moses, Ismail Nashef, Silvia Naef, Sarah Rogers, Kirsten Scheid, Nada Shabout, Wendy Shaw, Sarah Wilson, £5-£25, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, WC1. Info: SOAS
Monday 14 October
* An Evening With Gary Younge, draws from his new book Dispatches From The Diaspora to discuss what we can learn from Black history to make sense of the present, 7pm, £15-£30, Kiln Theatre, 269 Kilburn High Road, NW6 7JR. Info: Kiln
* China Week - Opening keynote with Michael Pettis, “Why is it so difficult for China to raise the consumption share of GDP?”, 12-1pm, King’s College, Strand Building, Strand Campus. Info: China Week
* Black History Month: celebrating innovators, Olu Alake, Dipo Faloyin, Skinder Hundai, Lesley nelson, Smade, 6.30-7.30pm, Royal Society of Arts, 8 John Adam Street, WC2N 6EZ. Info: RSA
Wednesday 16 October
* International courts after Gaza, Catriona Drew, Mark Drumbl, Devika Hovell, Vidya Kumar, 6.30-8pm, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, WC2
* Legacy of Lies, El Salvador 1981-1984, Jon Lee Anderson, 7 - 9pm, £11.55-£16.96, Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, W2 1QJ. Info: Frontline
* HIV, gender and the politics of medicine: Embodied democracy in the global south, book launch and panel discussion on the lives and work of artists, activists and academics engaged in the struggle for HIV treatment in and beyond South Africa, Elizabeth Mills, Hayley MacGregor, Nondumiso Hiwele, Maya Unnithan, Lenore Manderson, 4.30-6pm. Info: Institute of Development Studies
* Black Genius: Science, Race and the Extraordinary Portrait of Francis Williams, Fara Dabhoiwala, 7pm, £12/£15, V&A Museum, Cromwell Road. Info: V&A
EXHIBITIONS
* Silk Roads, outstanding fresh look at east-west trade and cultural routes in the period AD55-AD1000, £22-£25, British Museum, Great Russell Street, WC1 until 23 February. Info: Exhibition
+ ‘Made in Syria, buried in Essex’: Silk Roads busts its blocks
* A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang, step into a once bustling town on the famous Silk Road to meet the people who lived, travelled through, worked and worshipped there, British Library, 96 Euston Road, NW! until 23 February. Info: BL
+ A voice from the Silk Roads: ‘I would rather be a pig’s wife than yours’
* Zanele Muholi, more than 280 photographs by the South African “visual activist” of her country’s Black lesbian, gay, trans, queer and intersex communities, including self-portraits, £18, Tate Modern, Bankside, SE1 9TG, until 26 January. Info: Tate
+ Black LGBTQIA+ lives matter, shout Zanele Muholi’s photos
* Ranjit Singh: Sikh, Warrior, King, the life and legacy of the maharaja, 1780-1839, Wallace Collection, Hertford House, Manchester Square, W1 until 20 October. Info: www.wallacecollection.org
+ Ranjit Singh: Sikh, Warrior, King: glittering remnants of empire
* The Kola Nut Cannot Be Contained, display about the bitter-tasting fruit that has been important in West African culture and trade since at least the 11th century features stories about its entangled global histories, vibrant traditions, and new innovations, Wellcome Foundation, 183 Euston Road, NW1 until 2 February. Info: Welcome Collection
* Grace, Alvaro Barrington’s “reimagining of Black culture and aspirational attitude under foreign conditions … explores how my grandmother, my mother, and my sister in the British Caribbean community showed up gracefully,” free, Tate Britain, Millbank, SW1P 4RG until 26 January. Info: Grace
* 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
* Between Two Worlds: Vanley Burke and Francis Williams, two portraits of Jamaican scholars, centuries apart, shedding light on a 1745 painting and reflecting on identity and colonial legacies, free, V&A Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7. Info: Exhibition
* 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 tou
* 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 the Gold Coast in West Africa in 1901, Black Cultural Archives, 1 Windrush Square, SW2 1EF. Info: BCA
* All Our Stories: Migration and the Making of Britain, the centrality of migration to British life, free, Thursdays-Saturdays, Migration Museum, Lewisham Shopping Centre, SE13 7HB, until December 2025 . Info: Museum
* Target Queen, large-scale commission by British-Indian artist Bharti Kher, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre
* Hard Graft: Work, Health and Rights, stories of underrepresented workers and their rights within precarious and unsafe labour environments, free, Wellcome Centre, 183 Euston Road, NW1 2BE until 27 April. Info: Wellcome
+ Working yourself into the ground
* Turner Prize 2024, Pio Abad’s exploration of cultural loss and colonial histories, often reflecting on his upbringing in the Philippines; Claudette Johnson’s figurative portraits of Black women and men; Jasleen Kaur, a Glasgow Sikh, brings her sculptures of everyday objects to life using unique sound compositions; Delaine Le Bas draws on the cultural history of the Roma people, focusing on themes of death, loss, and renewal; £14/ concessions available, Tate Britain, Millbank, SW1P 4RG until 16 February. Info: Tate Britain
* Art of Palestine: from the river to the sea, showcase that aims to share the culture, heritage, and struggles of the Palestinian people through various artistic expressions, P21 Gallery, 21 Chalton Street, NW1 1JD, until 21 December. Info: P21
* The Imaginary Institution of India:Art 1975–1998, exhibition by over 30 Indian artists, bookended by two transformative events: Indira Gandhi’s state of emergency in 1975 and the 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests, £20, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS until 5 January + 26-27 October, free Info: Barbican Centre
* Umseme Uyakhuluma: a Celestial Conversation, work by a women’s artistic collective inspired by ancient forms of communication in Africa, Third Floor, 91a Rivington Street, EC2A 3AY. until 7 December. Info: Gallery
* Esther Mahlangu: Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu, brightly coloured geometric paintings rooted in South African Ndebele culture, free, Serpentine North, until 28 September 2025. Info: Serpentine
ARTS OPPORTUNITIES
* The Bill Cashmore Award offers a paid opportunity for two new one-act plays to be professionally produced at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. Applications close on 22 December.
* Entries are open for the 2025 Open City Documentary Festival in London on 6–11 May. The festival “seeks to nurture experimentation within the expanded field of non-fiction cinema, from artists’ moving image to documentary, the essay film, audio and cross-media works.” Deadline for entries is 13 December.
* People from Africa, Asia and Latin America are among those eligible for the Wellcome Collection’s non-fiction awards that aim to find and support writers from “underrepresented groups, who have a big idea for a book for general readers that engages with the themes of health and being human”. Closing date for applications is 11 November.
* The forthcoming For the Culture: Celebrations of Blackness Festival at the Lyric Hammersmith includes Audacious Creation, a “masterclass on moving through artistic industries with conviction, creativity and audacity”, with Candice Carty-Williams, Nathan Bryon and Adjani Salmon, from £10.
* The Royal Court Theatre has launched The Writers’ Card, part of its programme of helping playwrights at every stage of their career. It offers mentoring, networking, funding opportunities, events, and use of resources in the building, such as the library, subsidised meals and free script printing. For more information on the Card, details of the writer support offer and how writers can sign up to the free membership, visit https://royalcourttheatre.com/playwriting
* Theatre in the Pound: The Cockpit Theatre’s monthly scratch night enables performers to try out 10-15 minutes of new work, plus a short Q&A.
* Wanted: dancers of Latinx backgrounds to participate in workshops and perform at Hoxton Hall, east London to tell the story of Latin America's Indigenous communities. Weekly evening workshops from September, Hoxton Hall performances 27 November to 1 December.
* The 15th Open City Documentary Festival in London next May invites entries: deadline: 13 December.
* Papatango has launched a digital playwriting course, with tips from top artists.
* Riverside Studios is offering a regular drop-in playwriting group: “Whether you’re working on a script and want creative inspiration, you're intrigued by the idea of writing a play, or simply want a creative outlet, these monthly meet-ups are informal, fun and open to everyone.”
* Are you a writer, director, producer or theatre-maker with a piece of new writing that you’d like to put in front of an audience? This is the place.
* London is to get a memorial to slave trade victims in Docklands. “It is vital that our public spaces reflect the heritage of our great city - in all its diversity and complexity,” said Mayor Sadiq Khan. Public consultation will be followed by a competition for the artist. Unveiling is scheduled for 2026.
* Citizens of the World, a choir that grew out of the Calais “Jungle” and has 50 members from 30 countries, welcomes newcomers. It rehearses on Wednesday evenings. Details on the website
FILM
* BFI London Film Festival, films from all over the world, Q&As, panel discussions, virtual reality, until 20 October. Info: LFF
* The Teacher, a Palestinian teacher struggles to reconcile his commitment to political resistance with the chance of a relationship with volunteer worker and his role as father figure to a student, ~Hackney Picturehouse, Vue Piccadilly
* Rewriting the Rules, Pioneering Indian Cinema after 1970, 23 Oct, 27 Down, a young man’s life is irrevocably altered by a train journey from Bombay to Varanasi, 6.30pm; 26 Oct, This Bit of India, experimental films that map the post-colonial experience through the artist’s lens, 4pm; 2 Nov, The Circus Tent, the lives of a circus troupe; 7 Nov, Duvidha, a ghost falls in love with a bride; 13 Nov, India Cabaret + Maid Servant, double bill on women’s rights; £13, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, until 12 December. Info: Barbican
* The Battle For Laikipia, unresolved historical injustices and a devastating drought raise the stakes in a generations-old conflict between indigenous farmers and white landowners in Laikipia, a Kenyan wildlife conservation haven + Curzon Camden, Camden Bloomsbury until 17 October; Lexi 14, 16 October
* The Last of the Sea Women, documentary about the divers of South Korea’s Jeju Island who are renowned for centuries of diving to the ocean floor – without oxygen – to harvest seafood for their livelihood, Curzon Bloomsbury, until 17 October
Saturday 12 October
* Bye Bye Tiberias, years after leaving her Palestinian village to pursue an acting career in France, Hiam Abbass returns home with her daughter, in this intimate documentary about four generations of women and their shared legacy of separation, 8.30pm, Garden cinema
* Children of the Cult, the Rajneesh movement is one of the world’s most successful cults. Filmmaker Maroesja Perizonius tells the story of its treatment of children, Curzon Bloomsbury
Sunday 13 October
* The Last King of Scotland, drama about a Scot who is asked to become President Idi Amin’s doctor, 3pm, Garden cinema
Tuesday 15 October
* Starving Gaza, new Al Jazeera documentary + Q&A, 7-8.30pm, £16.63-£5.94, Frontline Club, Norfolk Place, W2 1QJ. Info: Frontline
PERFORMANCE
* Ostan, when a failing outdoor carwash staffed by immigrants becomes a front for a human trafficking enterprise, one of the workers has to make a choice, and possibly the ultimate sacrifice, Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, N4 3JP until 12 October. Info: Park
+ Slice of life in a carwash under pressure
* Kim’s Convenience, heartwarming drama about a family-run Korean store written by and starring Ins Choi, who calls the play his “‘love letter to my parents and to all first-generation immigrants who now call Canada their home”, 101 Queen Caroline Street W6 9BN until 26 October. Info: Riverside
* nowhere - an anti-biography, inspired by his involvement in the 2011 Egyptian revolution and counter-revolution, actor/ activist Khalid Abdalla journeys into his own history, set against seismic world events, bringing together the personal and the political to ask how we got here and find agency in the mazes of history, Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, SW11 5TN until 19 October. Info: Battersea Arts Centre + Post-show talks curated by Khalid Abdalla and the Palestinian Festival of Literature: 17 Oct, The Space of Solidarity
+ Actor-activist Khalid Abdalla decides the struggle must continue
* King Troll (The Fawn), “a dark and otherworldly thriller about two South Asian sisters, desperate to escape the border regime without losing their humanity. A dystopian exploration of migrant experiences in all their complexity”, New Diorama Theatre, £3-£22, 15 - 16 Triton Street, Regent’s Place, NW1 3BF, until 2 November. Info: New Diorama + Related events: 12 Oct, Workshop: How to Stop an Immigration Raid, 5:30-7pm; 19 Oct, 5:30-7pm, led by playwright Sonali Bhattacharyya in collaboration with the Anti Raids Network; 16 Oct, In Conversation with Sonali Bhattacharyya; 22 Oct, Border Resistance – Activism and Imagination, discussion led by Amardeep Singh Dhillon
* Statues, days after his father's death, English teacher Yusuf discovers a dusty mixtape that changes everything he knew about a man who barely spoke. Turns out, Mustafa spent the ‘90s rapping about pretty girls and Kilburn life, plotting dreams of superstardom with his best friend Omar. How did this passionate wordsmith become a silent statue?, from £15 (concessions available), Bush Theatre, 7 Uxbridge Road, W12 8LJ until 9 November. Info: bushtheatre.co.uk
Monday 14 October
* The Pontianak, Sharlene Teo reads from her novel Ponti alongside a screening of.writer/director Amanda Nell Eu’s Lagi Senang Jaga Sekandang Lembu’(It’s Easier to Raise Cattle) – a short about a female ghost of vengeance in Southeast Asian folklore,7pm, £5/£3, Omnibus Theatre, 1 Clapham Common Northside, SW45. Info: Omnibus
from Tuesday 15 October
* Mulatto Boy, Huvi’s always seen himself as a member of the three lions but not everyone feels the same way: a one-man show that asks what is it to be Black, Mixed Race and British and who gets to decide what we are, £16/£18, Omnibus Theatre, 1 Clapham Common Northside, SW4 0QW, until 3 November. Info: Omnibus
TV and RADIO
Sunday 6 October
* A Passage to India, film version of E. M. Forster’s story about a British woman’s allegation of rape in India that sparks a colonial uproar, 9pm, Sky Arts
Monday 7 October
* Panorama: October 7th - One Year On, the lives of people in Israel and Gaza, 9pm, BBC 1
Wednesday 9 October
* One Day in October, documentary on the year since the attack on Kibbutz Be’eri in Israel, 9pm, Channel 4
Thursday 10 October
* A United Kingdom, surprisingly good film about the marriage of Seretse Khama, the King of Bechuanaland (now Botswana), and London office worker Ruth Williams, in the face of opposition from their families and the UK and South African governments, 11.30pm, BBC 2
* Rethink, immigration discussion, 4pm, Radio 4
Friday 11 October
* The Last of the Sea Women, documentary about the threatened way of life of female South Korean divers, Apple TV
Monday 14 October
* Mr Loverman, dapper, charming Antigua-born UK resident Barry is hiding a secret - but it’s not what his wife suspects, in this adaptation of Bernadine Evaristo’s story about being true to yourself, 9pm, BBC1