From the Editor

* The Black British Theatre Awards will take place on 26 October. Here’s the shortlist.

* British-Pakistani playwright and theatre maker Aisha Zia has been named as the next creative director of the Kali Theatre Company (“intrepid plays by fearless women”).

Daniel Nelson london.globalevents@gmail.com

TALKS AND MEETINGS

Sunday 12 October

* My Little Black Book: A Blacktionary, Maggie Semple and Jane Oremosu on the ever-changing language of race, in celebration of Black History Month, 3-4.30pm, £10, Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road. Info: Foyles 

Monday 13 October

* Reparations: A public workshop, Gary Younge, Natalie Sharples,  Clemmie James, Lavinya Stennett, Kehinde Andrews, 12.30-5pm, free, Friends House, 173-177 Euston Road, NW1 2BJ. Info: Runnymede Trust

* The Lure of Othering, Hardeep Matharu, Peter Jukes, Nafeez Ahmed, Albie Amankona, Karishma Patel, Jake Arnott, Anwar Akhtar, 7.30pm, £10, Cockpit Theatre, NW8 8EH. Info: Byline Times

* Migration Stories: Windrush and the NHS, Allyson Williams, Liberty Melly, 5.45 -8pm, free, Barts North Wing, West Smithfield EC1A 7BE. Info: Culture Mile BID

* Sanctions Don’t Work As A Tool of Foreign Policy, Rebecca Harding, Ian Proud, Edward Lucas, 7pm, £19-£25, Smith Square Hall, SW1P 3HA. Info: Intelligence Squared

* Is President and Supreme Leader Xi Jinping On The Way Out?, Willy Lam, 5 - 6.30pm SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, WC1. Info: SOAS

* 50 Years of the Emergency: Lessons for democracy, Peter Ronald deSouza, Rukmini Bhaya Nair, 5-6.30pm, King’s College, Strand Campus, Strand, WC2R 2LS. Info: King’s 

* A Whole Heap of Mix Up - Stella Dadzie: book launch, 6.30-8pm, Brixton Tate Library, Oval, SW2 1JQ. Info:Launch

Tuesday 14 October

* Lyse Doucet on Reporting From the Frontlines, £28-£32, The Kiln, 269 Kilburn High Road, NW6. Info: Kiln

* Colonizing Palestine: The Zionist Left and the Making of the Palestinian Nakba, Areej Sabbagh Khoury, 5–7pm, South Wing UCL, Gower Street, WC1E 6BT. Info: Institute of Advanced Studies

* Healing Through Storytelling: Gaza Living Story, launch of a digital advocacy campaign led by Palestinian survivors, documenting their experiences and visions for reconstruction and renewal. Info: Living Story 

* An African mission: how African-led companies can power Mission 300, Leslie Maasdorp, Claudia Schwartz, Chinua Azubike, Andrew Herscowitz, Wale Shonibare, Hans Peter Lankes, Pedro Coutinho, Martin Kimmig, Sarvesh Suri, Admassu Tadesse, 3-4pm online. Info: Overseas Development Institute

* Lethal love: Femicide in Vietnam, an analysis of media reports 2018-2024, seminar on the first systematic study of femicide in Vietnam, based on six years of media reporting, Pauline Oosterhoff, 1-2.30pm, online. Info: Institute of Development Studies

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

* 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, until 2 November. Info: V&A

* 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

* 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;

* Earth Photo: London, still and moving images on planetary issues, Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, SW7 2AR until 14 October. Info: RGS

* 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

* Storm, 12 shortlisted Prix Pictet photographers, covering climate disasters, displacement and the simmering tensions within divided societies, V&A Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 2R, until 19 October. Info: Prix Pictet 

*  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

* Women by Women, Rooted in Resistance, ActionAid exhibition of women who are fighting for their land and future,.by female photographers from Nepal, Cambodia, Brazil and Nigeria, free, Oxo Gallery, Oxo Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, SE1 9PH  until 12 October. Info: ActionAid

* 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  

from Wednesday 15 October

* Parliament of Ghosts, site specific work by Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama that repurposes colonial-era furniture and jute sacks alongside newly crafted elements, inaugural show at Ibraaz, 14 Mortimer Street, W1W 7SS, a space dedicated to Global Majority culture, until 15 February. Info: Ibraaz

ARTS OPPORTUNITIES

* A residency open call for emerging and mid-career Palestinian artists based anywhere in the world: the fully funded, 11 week residency will be 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 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

* 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.