From the Editor

* Coming up: ywo plays about global heating. The Trials opens this week at the Southwark Playhouse, and will be followed in September by Scenes From The Climate Era, a look at how the conversations around the climate crisis shape our everyday lives, our communities and the biological world around us.. More information at Playground

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

TALKS AND MEETINGS

Monday 1 September

* An African History of Africa, Zeinab Badawi, 7pm, £10, Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0DT. Info: Foyles

Tuesday 2 September

* Lorna Goodison & Fawzia Muradali Kane: Dante’s Inferno, discussion of Goodison’s translation of Dante’s poem that casts Jamaican folklorist and poet Louise ‘Miss Lou’ Bennett-Coverley as Virgil, and moves the action to the Caribbean, where we encounter other poets, including Derek Walcott, local politicians and reggae pioneers, while endowing Jamaican patois with beauty and power, 7pm, £10, London Review Bookshop, 14 Bury Place, WC1A 2JL. Info: www.lrbshop.co.uk

* Gaza: The War on Press Freedom, Jon Williams, Ravita Navai, 6.15pm, £16.80, The Conduit, 6 Langley Street, WC2H 9JA. Info: The Conduit

* Understanding Netanyahu, Anshel Pfeffer, 7pm, £31.99-£41.99, Smith Square Hall, SW1P 3HA. Info: Intelligence Squared

Wednesday 3 September

* Sustainable agricultural innovation: focus on Ghana, webinar with Irene S. Egyir, Abu Tia Jambedu, Nbuwak Peace Yashim, Niagia Santuah, consider how far agricultural approaches prioritising productivity and sustainability may overlap, and the potential role of policy, market and practical innovations, 12-1pm. Info: Institute of Development Studies

* RReframing the accountability of social assistance in crises, webinar with Louisa M Seferis, Naomi Ayot Oyaro, Harem Karem, Alex Sicotte Levesque, 10-11am. Info: Institute of Development Studies

Thursday 4 September

* Arundhati Roy, with Elif Shafak, 7-8.30pm, £11.53-£63, Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, SW1X 9DQ. Info: Intelligence Squared

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

* 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

* 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

* Eileen Perrier: A Thousand Small Stories and Dianne Minnicucci: Belonging and Beyond, free, Autograph, Rivington Place, EC2A 3BA, until 13 September. Info: Rivington Place

* 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

* Said Dicko: Tracing Shadows, the multimedia artist from Burkina Faso paints over his prints to create unique work, free, Photographers Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, W1F 7LW until 7 September. Info: tpg.org.uk

* 0710 Journeys, Wayne Campbell’s photographs of Gaza protests in Britain and the everyday landscape of the occupied West Bank, £5, P21 Gallery, 21 Chalton Street NW1 1JD until 5 September. Info:  P21

* Wellcome Photography Prize, top 25 entries from categories including health problems in South Africa and climate change, free, Wednesdays–Saturdays, Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, NW1 1AT until 18 October. Info: Exhibition

* More Than Human, how design can help the planet thrive by shifting its focus beyond human needs, £14.38, students £5, Design Museum, 224-238 Kensington High Street W8 6AG, until 5 October. Info; Design Museum

* Virtual Beauty, exploring the impact of digital culture and technologies on traditional definitions of beauty, pay what you can, Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 1LA until 28 September. Info: Somerset House

* 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;

from Monday 1 September

* Palestinian Childhoods: Solidarity & Ṣumūd, exhibition and programme of events seek to witness and convey Palestinian children’s struggle for everyday life, love, play and learning in the face of loss and brutality, UCL East Marshgate Building, 7 Sidings Street, E20 2AE.until 14 September. Info: UCL. Events include 2-3 Sept, Resisting the Silencing of Palestinian Children, International hybrid conference; 4 Sept, screening, A Short Film About Kids and Tale of the Three Jewels; 8 Sept, Family day, workshops and film; 14 Sept, Beyond the Checkpoints, Youth Voices from Palestine panel 

ARTS OPPORTUNITIES

* 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 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’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.

* 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