From the Editor
* British playwright Caryl Churchill has withdrawn a play from the Donmar Warehouse in protest over the theatre’s support from Barclays, accused of providinmg financial support to nine arms companies supplying weapons to Israel. More than 300 theatre workers have signed an open letter backing Churchill and urging the theatre to cut ties with the bank. Full story
Daniel Nelson london.globalevents@gmail.com X: @EventsNelson
TALKS AND MEETINGS
* Larry Achiampong: If It Don’t Exist, Build It, the British-Ghanaian artist explores how digital narratives inform his approach to exploring cultural displacement, identity, and belonging. From 6.30pm, then online until 2 July. Info: Fane
Tuesday 1 July
* Demystifying Palm Oil: What are the effects that it is having on our environment?, Charlie Osborne, who has been collaborating on environmental research with the Malaysian palm oil industry since 2022, 9.15 - 9.45pm, free, part of the Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition and online, Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, SW1Y 5AG . Info: Royal Society
Thursday 3 July
* WritersMosaic: Frantz Fanon the Freedom Fighter, Ekow Eshun, Clementine E. Burnley, Khaldoon Ahmed and Donna Thompson, 7pm, British Library, 96 Euston Road NW1 2DB. Info: Discussion
* Palestine: Repair and Return: Stories of Art & Drama, the voices of arts, drama and theatre practitioners impacted by this work in Palestine, 6.:30-8.30pm, £5, P2! Gallery, 21-27 Chalton Street, NW1 1JD and online. Info: P21
Friday 4 July
* Unlocking Nigeria’s digital economic potential: a dialogue on AfCFTA and Uk trade and investment, Jumoke Oduwole, Ambassador Mohammed Maidugu, Hans Peter Lankes, Max Mendez-Parra, Nicola Watkinson, 11am-12.30pm. Info: Overseas Development Institute
Monday 7 July
* World Swahili Language Day, an international panel of poets, writers and researchers, 2-3.30pm, online. Info: SOAS
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 2026. Info: Wellcome
+ Thirst: an exhibition bridge over troubled water
* Ancient India: living traditions, the origins of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist sacred art in the nature spirits of ancient India – and how they live on 2,000 years later, from £16, British Museum, Great Russell Street, WC1B 3DG until 19 October. Info: Museum
+ Starring role for snakes in Ancient India exhibition
* Mumbai + London: new perspectives on the ancient world, small show 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
* Jose Maria Valasco: A View of Mexico, first UK show of work by the Mexican artist, from £12, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square WC2N 5DN until 17 August. Info: Gallery
* 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 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 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
* Esther Mahlangu: Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu, brightly coloured geometric paintings rooted in South African Ndebele culture, free, Serpentine North, until 28 September. Info: Serpentine
* Women of the World Unite: the United Nations decade for women and transnational feminisms 1975 to now, London School of Economics Library, Houghton Street, WC2 until 22 August. Info: LSE
* 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
* Arpita Singh: Remembering, her first solo exhibition outside India, she draws from Bengali folk art and Indian stories, interwoven with experiences of social upheaval and global conflict, free, Serpentine North W2 2AR, until 27 July
* Eileen Perrier: A Thousand Small Stories and Dianne Minnicucci: Belonging and Beyond, free, Autograph, Rivington Place, EC2A 3BA, until 13 September. Info: Rivington Place
* Hamad Butt: Apprehensions, three-part installation of work by artist, born in Pakistan, died in London aged 32, Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 Whitechapel High Street, E1 7QX until 1 July. Info: Gallery
* Villa In The Jungle And Other Stories, Gil Mualem-Doron looks at colonial, if not White supremacist imagery, within Zionism, P21 Gallery, 21-27 Chalton Street,NW1 1JD until 5 July. Info: P21
* Ghazaleh Avarzamani and Ali Ahadi: Freudian Typo, photography, sculpture, video work and found objects by two Iranian-Canadian artists which playfully critique Britain’s imperial past and how it manifests today, tracing connections between historical sources and current events in politics and finance, free, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre until 31 August. Info: Hayward
* Earth Photo 2025, Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, SW7 2AR. until 17 August. Info: RGS
* The Woven Voices Prize for Playwriting is a chance for migrant playwrights in the UK to have their work read, shared and developed. The winner will get £3,500, and a further three weeks of paid development time. There are also prizes for up to four runners-up. Applications close on 27 July.
* Theatro Technis and Hyphen Artist Collective’s offer free in-person & online writing sessions + community chats for hyphenated & global majority creatives.
* Artist Surgeries at the Gate Theatre: on the second Thursday of every month.
* As Yet Unscene is a year-round programme initiative to find and develop scripts in early stages of development. it includes workshops, rehearsed readings and fully-rehearsed performances of longer extracts. Details here
* Poets - submissions are invited for the PEN Heaney Prize 2025. For collections published between 1 July and 31 December the submission window closes on 31 August
* The Royal Court Theatre has launched The Writers’ Card, part of its programme of helping playwrights. It offers mentoring, networking, funding opportunities, events, and use of resources in the building, subsidised meals and free script printing. For more information, visit https://royalcourttheatre.com/playwriting
* The Royal Court has also launched a London-wide playwrights award for 13-18-year-olds.
* Theatre in the Pound: The Cockpit Theatre’s monthly scratch night enables performers to try out 10-15 minutes of new work + a short Q&A. Also classes, workshops, readings, advice sessions, support & performance opportunities.
* Papatango hopes its new Playwrights’ Studio will be a home for playwrights of all levels of experience. It aims to be a joined-up, sustained writing package with a variety of free advantages, including digital workshops, lone-to-one, and thousands of pounds in open-access funding.
* 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.” It has also launched songwriting sessions.
* 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
* Red Path, when a jihadist group attacks two young shepherds, 14-year-old Ashraf is forced to take a macabre message back to his family: a dream-like plunge into the wounded psyche of a child and his ability to overcome trauma, Lexi 30 June, 1 July
* In the Mood for Love, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the film, Wong Kar Wai has revisited his original concept and offers an unseen chapter as a bonus to the initial version, BFI Southbank until 3 July
* New Lebanese Cinema: Reclaiming Storytelling, until 11 July. Info: Garden
* The Salt of the Earth, documentary about the 40-year career of photographer Sebastião Salgado who travelled the world, tracing the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity, 6.20pm, Curzon Bloomsbury until 3 July
* Sudan, Remember Us, documentary that captures the hope and accomplishment following dictator Omar al Bashir’s fall and the oppression of the military crackdown and subsequent civil war, Curzon Bloomsbury, until 3 July; + 30 June, with director Q&A, Rich Mix
+ Remember the Sudanese protesters who thought their time had come
from Friday 4 July
* The Creative Nonfiction Film Weekend, focusing on ‘personal documentary’, showcasing the varied approaches of eight filmmakers, until 6 July, Rio Cinema. Films include 5 July, Kings & Extras: Digging for a Palestinian Image; 6 July, The Taste of Mango. Info: Non-Fiction Weekend
+ A painful love-letter through time
Tuesday 8 July
* The Cow, with this, his second feature, Dariush Mehrjui defined the Iranian New Wave and transformed Iranian cinema + intro by Ehsan Khoshbakht, 6.05pm, £12.20 - £14, National Film Theatre
Wednesday 9 July
* Tamango, an enslaved African man plans a shipboard rebellion and wants the captain’s sexual slave to help + intro by Miriam Bale, 6.15pm, National Film Theatre
Thursday 10 July
* Turkey’s Hidden War, the untold story of Turkey’s military expansion in northern Iraq + discussion with Simona Foltyn, Renad Mansour, Amberin Zaman, 7pm, from £5,94, Frontline Club13 Norfolk Place W2 1QJ. Info: Frontline
PERFORMANCE
* Miss Myrtle’s Garden, five characters interact in the garden of an elderly, first-generation Jamaican woman with dementia, £10-£35, Bush Theatre, 7 Uxbridge Road, W12 8LJ until 12 July. Info: Bush
* 54.60 Africa, blending story, song, and dance, 11 friends are given a week to prove Africa is a continent to be celebrated. Inspired by the creator’s travels to every African nation before he’s 60, £12-£39, Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin Street E8 3DL until 12 July. Info: Arcola
* The grand tour: one playwright’s quest to set foot in every African country before turning 60
from Monday 7 July
* Talawa Firsts Festival 2025, “groundbreaking Black British new work”, including double-bills:There's a Mouse in the Kitchen, staged reading by Cal-l Jonel; Small Revolutions by Savannah Acquah, My Father, The Addict by Valerie Isaiah Sadoh. Until 19 July. Info: www.talaw.com
TV and RADIO
+++ A new low as programmes about the Global South fade from the schedules
Saturday 28 June
* Incredible Journeys With Simon Reeve, a Burmese rights campaigner is among those featured in the TV traveller’s catch-up with past encounters, 9.10pm, BBC2
* John Simpson’s dictators, a reporter’s look-back, 8pm, Radio4
Sunday 29 June
* Past Lives, two people’s lives intertwine again after years apart in this romantic, sad American-Korean film rooted in longing and identity, 10pm, BBC2
* Witness History, rescuing Palmyra’s treasures from IS, 8.48am, Radio4
Friday 4 July
* Sorry, I Didn’t Know, Black comedy quiz, 11.40pm, ITV1