From the Editor
* “We are an arts charity – can we take action on Palestine?”. That’s the question that Artists for Palestine UK sets out to answer in a new briefing. The advice begins by declaring, “Yes! While there are restrictions around charities’ ability to undertake work deemed ‘political activity’, this does not mean that you can’t undertake work in solidarity with Palestine.” Full statement here.
Daniel Nelson london.globalevents@gmail.com
TALKS AND MEETINGS
* Jewish Book Week. Programme includes 8 March, Israel behind the headlines, 12.30pm; Across the Divide: Jewish & Arab Israeli Women, 2pm. King’s Place, York Way, N1 9AG until 8 March. Info: Book Week
Friday 6 March
* UK Media Freedom Forum, second day of meeting on impacts on media freedom around the world, including the use of lawfare and strategic lawsuits against public participation, transnational repression, misinformation and disinformation, and media literacy, free, City University, Tait building, Northampton Square EC1V 0HB.
* The Producer Testimonies: Black Women in Arts, Culture and Heritage, 6 - 9.30pm, £25, Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 2RLK. Info: V&A
* Black Women Speak Volumes, Bernardine Evaristo, Joy Francis, Yvvette Edwardsn and Andi Oliver give voice to the stories of older Black women, 7pm, £12, British Library, Euston Road, NW1. Info: Library
Saturday 7 March
* Migrant Women Who Shaped the City, walking tour, from civil rights activists and famous performers to a Moroccan seamstress and an African American author, uncover how migrant women from Roman London to the modern East End shaped the country's story, 1.30pm, pay what you can. Info: Migration Museum
* National Student Conference for Palestine, 9.30am - 6pm. Info: Palestine Solidarity Organisation
Sunday 8 March
* In Conversation with......International Women's Day Panel, performances and readings by Cash Holland, Zoe Brough, Daisy Chute and Mildred Yuan, 12.30pm, £12/ £15 on the door, Andrew Lloyd Webber Theatre, Arts Educational Schools, London, W4 1LY. Info: Riverside
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, free, Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road SE1 6HZ until 29 March. Info: IWM
* Hawaiʻi: a kingdom crossing oceans, a celebration of art and history, £14/ £16, British Museum, Great Russell Street, WC1B 3DG until 25 May. Info: Hawai’i
* A Greenland shadow over a wonderful Hawai’i exhibition
* 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 – work by historical Indian botanical artists, admission with 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
* 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
* 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
* 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
* 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
* Target Queen, large-scale commission by British-Indian artist Bharti Kher, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre
* Charlie Phillips - Somewhere, Somehow, work by the immigrant who became one of Britain’s greatest photographers, Riverside Studios, 101 Queen Caroline Stret W6 9BN until 9 March. Info: Riverside
+ 8 March, Meet the Artist + Windrush Presentation by Patricia Hamzee 6pm and 7- 8:30pm Charlie Phillips & Friends: Intimate Q&A, free
* Sudan: A Visual Art Narrative – Second Generation Exhibition. Almas Art Foundation, Arch 28 Old Union Yard Arches, 229 Union Street, SE1 0LR until 7 March. Info: Almas Art
* Tixinda, A Snail’s Purple, exhibition about a sea snail whose ink can be milked to produce a purple pigment known as Tyrian or Royal purple, by British-Mexican artist Melanie Smith and Patricio Villarreal Ávila, Peltz Gallery, 43 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PD, until 11 March. Info: Pellz
* Water Pantanal Fire, photography exhibition revealing the fragile beauty of the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland that sprawls across Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, free, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 2DD until 31 May. Info: Museum
* To Survive To Witness, works by Gaza-based Palestinian artist Marwan Nassar created during the 2023-25 war in Gaza, P21, 21-27 Chalton Street, NW1 1JD until 13 March. Info: P21
* Bouchra Khalili: Circles and Storytellers, the culmination of the French-Moroccan artist and educator’s exploration of the Mouvement des Travailleurs Arabes and its theatre groups, Al Assifa and Al Halaka, free, Mosaic Rooms, 226 Cromwell Road, SW5 0SW, until 14 June. Info: Mosaic
* Beatriz González, the Colombian artist explores the impact of the images we encounter every day, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS until 10 May. Info: Barbican
* Yin Xiuzhen: Heart to Heart, through large-scale installations made from everyday objects, industrial materials and used items of clothing, the Chinese artist invites us to see the familiar in new ways, £19 (includes admission to Chiharu Shiota: Threads of Life), Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX until 3 May. Info: Hayward
* Moved to Care: Stories of Health and Migration, explores the contributions of migrants from across the globe to healthcare over the last 150 years, from the 19th century colonial legacy of missionary nurses to the Windrush Generation, free, 20 Cavendish Square, W1G OR until 2 November. Info; Royal College of Nursing
* Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, the shortlist includes Amak Mahmoodian (Iran) on the effects of exile on memory and identity, imagining a world without borders, £10/£7, Photographer’s Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street W1 until 7 June. Info: Prize
ARTS OPPORTUNITIES
* Koro Lab is a new artist development programme for migrant or Global Majority artists or companies working in immersive, interactive or site-specific theatre. It offers bursaries, rehearsal space, workshops and other support. Apply by 15 March.
* Entries for the London Palestine Film Festival must be submitted by 30 June. contact@palestinefilm.org.uk
We welcome films of any length, whether filmed in Palestine, about Palestine, or created by Palestinian filmmakers. If you or someone you know has a work to share, we want to see it.
To submit, email contact@palestinefilm.org.uk
* Wanted: poems and short prose on the tragedy of refugee deaths in the Channel.
* The UK's biggest playwriting award is back, with productions, commissions and cash awards to be won. Open for entries until 5pm, 16 March. Details here.
* the other side of hope: journeys in refugee and immigrant literature invites submissions for its next issue, “other tongue, mother tongue.” It seeks poetry by migrants in any language except English. Guidelines.
* The Young Playwrights Award is a free, open-access competition for any teenager in the UK interested in writing a play. Entries are open until 22 April.
* The Royal Court Theatre’s Writers’ Card aims to help playwrights through mentoring, networking, funding opportunities, events, subsidised meals and free script printing.
* P21 Gallery & Az Theatre invite submissions for an upcoming exhibition and activities programme on artistic responses to genocide: all media, any genocide.
* The Climate Migration Collaborative seeks contributors to its Climate Migration Storytelling initiative.
* 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
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* Applications for the next round of Artist Surgeries at the Gate Theatre will open on 9 March.
* 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 Cockpit Theatre offers 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.
* If you are a refugee, immigrant or asylum-seeking writer interested in exploring your own poetry and prose, Exiled Writers Ink offers classes.
FILM
* My Father’s Shadow, two brothers connect with their father in this drama set against the backdrop of the 1993 Nigerian presidential election, Picturehouses Crouch End, Finsbury Park, Hackney, Ritzy, West Norwood; + until 10 March, Barbican
+ A father’s shadow - and the shadow of a Nigerian coup
+ Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù: ’If the west doesn’t say a film is good, that doesn’t mean it’s no good’
* The President’s Cake, despite hardships in 1990s Iraq, Saddam Hussein requires every school to prepare a cake to celebrate his birthday. So 9-year-old Lamia must use her wits to gather ingredients for the cake or face punishment; Greenwich Picturehouse
+ A girl, a boy, a rooster and a cake for Saddam
* No Other Choice, a man’s desperation to secure a new job finds him exploring unique ways to eliminate his competitors, in South Korean director Park Chan-wook’s madcap thriller; Picturehouses Central and Greenwich, Odeob Luxe Haymarket
* The Secret Agent, Brazilian political thriller about an academic on the run in the dangerous, dictatorial 1970s; cinemas all over town + until 15 March Lexi; National Film Theatre, Riverside
* BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions, genre-defying debut feature from artist and filmmaker Khalil Joseph, from £12.50, Wednesday, Saturdays and Sundays, 180 Studios, 180 Strand, Surrey Street WC2R 1EA until 27 March.
* Palestine Comedy Club, six Palestinian comedians tour a stand-up show exploring the humour that surrounds the complexity of Palestinian identity, Curzon Bloomsbury + 6, 8, 12 March; Rich Mix 7 March; Genesis Cinema 10 March
+ Have you heard the one about the six Palestinians who walk into a theatre?
* Everest Dark, as the death toll on the world's highest peak rises, a legendary Nepali climber leads an elite Sherpa team on a life-threatening mission to retrieve fallen climbers from Everest’s Death Zone. The mountain through the eyes of people who call it home, Curzon Bloomsbury + until 12 March
Sunday 8 March
* Wajib, drily humorous film about a father and son driving around Nazareth to deliver wedding invitations + introduction by Sarah Agha, 5pm, part of a season celebrating the films of Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir, Lexi + 11 March, 6.10pm
Monday 9 March
* Amores Perros, three stories of animalistic desire drive this modern Mexican classic, the debut of Alejandro González Iñárritu, 3pm, BFI Southbank
Tuesday 10 March
* Gaza Eyewitnesses, film by Palestinian artists based on on-the-spot testimonies + Q&A with Hossam Al Madhoun, 7 - 9pm, £4, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, WC1B 5DQ. Info: Film
Wednesday 11 March
* Re-connecting the Diaspora, when British multicultural TV began to serve as a point of reconnection between Black and Asian Britons and their nations of origin, 8.30pm, BFI Southbank
PERFORMANCE
* Sweetmeats, a touching love story between two South Asian elders begins in a London diabetes clinic when a “scary Indian woman” meets an “irritating Pakistani man”, £10 - £35, Bush Theatre, 7 Uxbridge Road, W12 8LJ, until 21 March. Info: Bush
+ A British-Indian~Pakistani rom com sparked by diabetes
* Suppliants of Syria, interactive multimedia performance exploring asylum, media and democracy + post-show discussions, with live music 6 March, Sounds Like Home international women's choir; 7 March, Rihab Azar; 8 March, Amies Freedom Choir; £15/ £30, Hoxton Hall, 130 Hoxton Street N1 6SH until 8 March. Info: Border Crossings
Saturday 7 - Sunday 9 March
* The Lost Lombi, tackles the recruitment of child soldiers while exploring identity, the generational trauma of war, the necessity of belonging and the importance of forgiveness, £25, Number Ten, 10 Golborne Road W10 5PE. Infgo: Muse Group
Tuesday 10 March
* Collective Authorship - Hotel Britannia, whodunnit by Zakiyyah Deen, Soria Hamidi and Isabella Leung, 7pm, £7, Riverside, 101 Queen Caroline Street, W6 9BN. Info: Theatre experiment
Sunday 15 March
* Hossam’s People: Accounts from Gaza during the ongoing genocide, staged adaptation of testimonies, written by Hossam Madhoun, a theatre maker and child protection manager from Gaza, describing his experiences during the genocide to the present + Q&A, including Madhoun, presented by White Kite Collective, a group of artists and cultural workers, including Az Theatre, formed in response to the genocide, 3pm, £7.50 - £20 (fundraiser for Thilal, which runs trauma-informed workshops in Gaza and Ma’an Development Centre), Bush Theatre, 7 Uxbridge Road, W12 8LJ. Info: Bush
TV and RADIO
Sunday 1 March
* A Place in Politics for British Muslims, 1.30pm, Radio4,
Monday 2 March
* Global Eye, current affairs magazine, 7pm, BBC2
* A Place in Politics for British Muslims, 4pm, Radio4
* How did we get here?, series on the origins of the Middle East conflict, 8pm, Radio4
Tuesday 3 March
* Red Light to Limelight, documentary about Kolkata sex workers who have formed an arts collective, 10.20pm, BBC4
Wednesday 4 March
* Hostage, three-part documentary about the kidnap of a British photojournalist by British jihadis in Syria, 9pm, BBC2
* Slim’s Guide To Life, series in which a 53-year-old stand-up looks back at his Black British teenagerdom, 11pm, Radio4
Thursday 5 March
* Alexander Armstrong in India, yet another travelogue series - but perhaps it’s a small sign of improvement that it’s not called ‘Alexander Armstrong’s India’, 8pm, Channel5
Friday 27 February
* Strike on Iran: The Nuclear Question, 5.05pm, 9.50pm, PBS America