From the Editor

* Refugee Week 2025 has announced the theme for the 2025 celebration on 16-22 June will be Community As A Superpower.

* The Black-led Eclipse Theatre Company - which has toured 18 productions to more than 100 venues in England - has closed suddenly and said remaining reserves will be redistributed within the arts community.

* Film festivals now and coming up: Rewriting the Rules, Pioneering Indian Cinema after 1970, Echoes In Time: Korean Films of the Golden Age and New Cinema, the London Palestine Film Festival, the London Migration Film Festival and Women of the Lens Film Festival at Rich Mix.

Daniel Nelson london.globalevents@gmail.com X: @EventsNelson

TALKS AND MEETINGS

Thursday 21 November

* Building Solidarities: Gender Justice in a Time of Backlash, launch of report, with Melanie Judge, Inna Michaeli, Benedetta Musillo, Vivek Rai, Maheen Sultan, Nana Soares, Susie Jolly, Tessa Lewin, Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, Sohela Nazneen, 4-5.30pm. Info: Institute of Development Studies

Friday 22 November

* AIUK Youth Conference, 10am-4pm, free, Human Rights Action Centre, EC2A 3EA. Info: Amnesty International

* Royal African Society Benefit Gala, 5.30-11pm, from £125, Royal Institute of British Architects, 66 Portland Place, W1B 1AD. Info: RAS

Saturday 23 November

* Walk and Workshop, Living Traces, 2-4pm, £13.70, Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, Southern Grove, E3 4PX, part of London Migrant Film Festival. Info: Eventbrite

* Unpacking Arabic Expressions - Ghorba, discussion-based English-language workshop (for English and Arabic speakers) unpacking the history of a single Arabic word, 1-3pm, £13.70, Palestine House, 113 High Holborn, WC1V 6JQ, part of London Migration Film Festival. Info: Festival

* What gets left behind?, reveal the significance and symbolism of objects left behind during migration, and how these can paint a picture of who we are now, 2:30-4pm, £8.30, Upstairs at the Ritzy,  Ritzy cinema,  SW2 1JG, part of the London Migration Film Festival. Info: Eventbrite

Sunday 24 November

* Heart of Snow: Afterlife + Three Borders, Misha Zakharov explores the intersectional diasporic experience of Koryo-Saram, the (post-)Soviet Koreans, 3.30-6pm, £8.30, Ritzy cinema,  SW2 1JG, part of the London Migration Film Festival. Info: Eventbrite

* Bitch and Stitch: Weaving Memories, Maryam Rimi’s workshop is aimed at immigrant communities, 12.30-3pm, £7.21, Ritzy cinema,  SW2 1JG, part of the London Migration Film Festival. Info: Eventbrite 

Monday 25 November

* New world, new rules: what works for global governance, George Papaconstantinoiu, 6.30-8pm, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, WC2

Tuesday 26 November

* Meals and Movement: Recipe Writing Workshop, Ixta Belfrage on adapting recipes from one heritage to new culinary contexts, 6:45-8.30pm, £13.70, Upstairs at the Ritzy cinema, SW2 1JG, part of London Migration Film Festival.   

* Elections in Uruguay, 1-2.15pm, online. Info: Canning House

* The rise of Africa’s suburban middle classes, Deborah James, Claire Mercer, Susan Purnell, Ola Uduka, 6.30-8pm, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, WC2

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’

* Hew Locke: What Have We Here?, Guyanese-British artist Hew Locke turns his lens on the British Museum collection in a collaborative exhibition exploring histories of British imperial power, adults from £12, under-16s free, British Museum, Great Russell Street, WC1, until 9 February. Info: British Museum

+ ‘It’s as if Amazon had their own army today’

+ ‘It’s quite a thing to do a show here and openly use the word looting’: artist Hew Locke on decolonising the British Museum

* As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic, photos from Africa and the diaspora in Canada, UK, US and the Caribbean, from £6 (access to three exhibitions), Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York's HQ, King's Road, SW3 4RY, until 20 January. Info: Black Atlantic

+ Every image contains some kind of magic

* March of the Hummingbirds, Aneesa Dawoojee documents the histories and cultures of the Caribbean and Mauritius, from £6 (access to three exhibitions), Saatchi Gallery,  Duke of York's HQ, King's Road, SW3 4RY, until 5 January. Info: Hummingbirds

* 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

* 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. 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

* Beware Blue Skies, immersive film installation about battle drones, Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, until 16 March. Info: IWM

* The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence, £22, V&A Museum, Cromwell Street, SW7 2RL, until 5 May. Info: V&A

* Letters for Palestinian Childhoods, letters, poems and artwork dedicated to the young people of Palestine, created around the world by both adults and children, Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, E1 6LA, until 6 December. Info: Exhibition

ARTS OPPORTUNITIES

* Autograph is offering £312 for successful pitches for 600-1,000 word texts about how the photography studio can be a space to explore expression and identity. Deadline: 6 January

* Autograph is also offering £1,000 to creative practitioners with less than three years experience to make their event happen at its London gallery. There’s a 6 January deadline for applications.

* The Southbank Centre invites submissions to be screened or performed at a supportive artistic group session on 15 December. Selected artists will receive £150 to cover time and expenses. Apply by 22 November.

* Training and development opportunity for “an individual passionate about theatre and costume, from a refugee or asylum-seeking background”. You’ll work with Good Chance on its new production, Kyoto, coming to London's West End in the new year. The costume trainee will work with the costume designer and the wardrobe team from rehearsals through to the opening. Details here

* Entries are open for the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2025 – submissions close at 6pm on 9 January.

* New Diorama's open Artist Surgeries are back. Topics can be anything where a 20-minute chat with the theatre’s team might genuinely help or provide a useful sounding board. Next date is 6 December.

* Springboard is a free part-time training programme that aims to find, shape, inspire, champion and sustain the next generation of performers from under-represented backgrounds in west London..

* 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.

* 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