From the Editor

* Film festivals galore: the UK Jewish, French and Palestine film festivals are under way, and the London Migration Film Festival opens on 27 November.

Daniel Nelson london.globalevents@gmail.com

TALKS AND MEETINGS

Monday 24 November

* Gaza: Ceasefire, Survival and the Future of a State, Ramita Navai and Jean-Pierre Filiu discuss the real meaning of the ceasefire and what can emerge from the ruins, 7pm, £16.80, Palestine House, 113 High Holborn, WC1V 6JQ. Info: Frontline

Tuesday 25 November

* 60 years since the 1965 Race Relations Act and its lessons for racial justice today, Shabna Begujm, 5pm-7pm, UCL Institute of Advanced Studies, Gower Street, WC1E6BT

* The Emergency Response Rooms of Sudan: local leadership in action, leaders of the grassroots movement, the Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs), 5.30 - 7pm, Overseas Development Institute, 4 Millbank, SW1P 3JA and online. Info: ODI

* Salman Rushdie: The Eleventh Hour, the author celebrates the publication of his new story collection, in conversation with Mishal Husain, 7.30pm, £20, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX. Info: Rushdie

* Palestine - 1: Reimagining Palestine’s Past, celebration of the launch of an anthology edited by Basma Ghalayini, in which 10 Palestinian writers re-imagine Palestine the year before the Nakba on a village-by-village basis, 7pm, £12, British Library, 96 Euston Road, NW1. Info: Library

* Down to Earth: Why Soil Matters, Melissa Leach, Merlin Sheldrake, Martin Bell, 6.30 - 7.45pm, The British Academy, 10-11  Carlton House Terrace, SW1Y 5AH. Info: BA

*  Why the Right to Work for People Seeking Asylum Benefits Everyone, 6-8pm, Conduit Club, 6 Langley Street WC2H 9JA. Info: The Conduit

* A Guide to Direct Action, 6 - 7.30pm, online, free. Info: Human Rights Action Centre  

Wednesday 26 November

* Black Girl from Pyongyang, book talk with Monica Macias whose father, Equatorial Guinea President Francisco Macías Nguema, sent her to be educated under the guardianship of North Korea’s President Kim Il Sung and who stayed on after  her father’s death in a coup and her mother became unreachable, 7 - 8.30pm, from £6.13, 13 Norfolk Place, W2 1QJ. Info: Frontline

* Prosecuting the powerful: confronting the challenges of international justice, Denisa Kostovicova, Steve Crawshaw, 6.30-8pm, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, WC2A 2AE

* How can schools tackle misogyny? Embedding equality in education, 5-7pm, Overseas Development Institute, 4 Millbank, SW1P 3JA. Info: ODI

Thursday 27 November

* Weaponising credibility: Lawfare, bureaucratic violence, and Bangladeshi asylum seekers in the UK, Ashraf Hoque on the struggles of Bangladeshi refugee men to ‘legalise’ their residency, 12 - 1pm, Institute of Education, 55-59 Gordon Square, WC1H 0NT. Info: IoE

* Net Migration Figures – What Next for Policy and Politics?, Alan Manning, Marley Morris, Sunder Katwala, 12 - 1pm, online. Info: British Future.

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

* 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

* 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 links between empire and botany

+ The Singh Twins spotlight Kew’s role in the business of Empire

* 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

* 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

* 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

* Imaging Peace, outdoor exhibition of 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;

* 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

*  The Presence of Solitude, through film, photography and costume, Taiwanese artist Val Lee explores isolation, solitude and the human connections that may form in these moments, 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 British 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, Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama repurposes colonial-era furniture and jute sacks alongside newly crafted elements, Ibraaz, 14 Mortimer Street, W1W 7SS, until 15 February. Info: Ibraaz

+ 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

* 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.

*  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

* 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

ARTS OPPORTUNITIES

* PEN’s grants window is open until 30 November for translators anywhere in the world for work of Brazilian literature, and for promotional activity for works of South Asian literature translated into English.

* Creating Routes, a free, practical, facilitator training programme for Global Majority theatre makers aims to provide an alternative route into the “participatory arts sector”. Application must be in by 10am on 24 November.

* Theatre Deli is offering £200 seed funding, production support and two free performances for an idea or work-in-progress. Deadline: 28 November.

* Comedian Munya Chawawa has launched Black Boys Theatre Club “to give young men access to a world of theatre”.

* Women writers, directors, performers, musicians and visual artists are invited to submit projects for the Playground Theatre’s planned Women’s Voices: A Celebration

* For emerging and mid-career Palestinian artists based anywhere in the world: a fully-funded, 11 week residency at Gasworks in London from 7 July to 21 September 2026. Application deadline: 12 January.

* The BFI is to invest £150m over the next three years under six headings: audiences, education & heritage, filmmaking & talent development, skills & workforce development, international, and insight & industry.

* The Royal Court Theatre’s first nationwide, open-access Young Playwrights Award invites every teenager in the country to try writing a play..

* New Diorama Theatre is distributing grants of £500 to migrant theatre makers to ease the burden of visa, legal, and other bureaucratic costs affecting migrants navigating UK immigration.

* Entries for the 2026 Open City Documentary Festival are open. Deadline: 28 November

* Black Cultural Archives is looking for 13 ,more members to develop skills, explore culture, and shape the future of the heritage sector. Information here for information and an application form. 

* First or second-generation migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, international students or international workers can enter the Then & Now’ writing competition focussing on your migration story. Details here.

* Good Chance, formed in the Calais Jungle refugee camp, is launching Stage Door 10 - a national programme placing 10 creatives from refugee backgrounds in paid roles across 10 UK theatres and arts organisations.

* 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, year-round 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

* The Royal Court Theatre’s Writers’ Card aims to help playwrights through mentoring, networking, funding opportunities, events, subsidised meals and free script printing.

* The Royal Court has also launched a London-wide playwrights award for 13-18-year-olds.

* 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. Its advantages include 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.