This month Cultured Bohemian has curated a list of London-based global majority centered events happening this month to get you through the month. With events on screen, stage, exhibitions, and talks, there is an event for everyone.
SCREEN
Bye Bye Tiberias (PG)
The Garden Cinema
Various Dates
Various Times
Years after leaving her Palestinian village to pursue an acting career in France, Hiam Abbass returns home with her daughter, in this intimate documentary about four generations of women and their shared legacy of separation.
Shunya (18)
Rich Mix
2nd July
18:00
Anu, an 11 year old girl is told that her beloved Grandmother has gone to God’s house. She sets on a journey with a Bhavai troupe to find God’s house and get her Grandma back, facing the ideas of the illusion of life and reality of death.
Xiao Wu (Pickpocket) (12*) + ScreenTalk with Morgan Quaintance and Xiaolu Guo
Barbican
3rd July
19:00
A small town pickpocket whose friends have moved on to higher trades finds himself bitter and unable to adapt.
The Watermelon Woman (15)
The Garden Cinema
4th July
16:00
A young black lesbian filmmaker probes into the life of The Watermelon Woman, a 1930s black actress who played ‘mammy’ archetypes.
Mo’ Better Blues (15)
The Garden Cinema
5th July
20:40
Jazz trumpeter Bleek Gilliam makes questionable decisions in his professional and romantic lives.
Kung Fu Cinema
Zhulin Hidden Village
5th July
16:30 – 23:00
An night of epic martial arts action with Kung Fu Cinema – featuring classic movies, games, snacks and a bar.
Exiled (15)
The Garden Cinema
6th July
13:30
A friendship is formed between an ex-gangster, and two groups of hitmen – those who want to protect him and those who were sent to kill him.
Monkey Man (18)
Roof East
11th July
20:45
An anonymous young man unleashes a campaign of vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continue to systematically victimize the poor and powerless.
African Family: Stories in Short Film (& Ethiopian Food)
Volunteer Centre Lambeth
12th July
19:00 – 22:00
A night of powerful short documentaries showcasing African stories, followed by delicious Ethiopian food!
BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE (12A)
Roof East
18th July
20:45
The story of how reggae icon Bob Marley overcame adversity, and the journey behind his revolutionary music.
MATANGI/MAYA/M.I.A (18)
The Garden Cinema
26th July
20:45
Drawn from a never-before-seen cache of personal footage spanning decades, this is an intimate portrait of the Sri Lankan artist and musician who continues to shatter conventions.
Absolutely Marvellous (18)
Rich Mix
27th July
20:15
A fly-on-the-wall, Osbournes-style feature documentary following Marvel Opara.
Blue Sunshine (18) + Director Q&A
The Garden Cinema
28th July
17:00
Aravind, a high school teacher, wants to transition from male to female while working for a school in a small town in South India.
STAGE
English By Sanaz Toossi
Kiln Theatre
21st June – 6th July
Various Times
A classroom in Iran. Four adult classmates grapple with learning English as a foreign language. As they attempt to perfect their accents, pronunciation and vocabulary, they realise that there is more to their lives than can ever be uttered through language.
MY FATHER’S FABLE
Bush Theatre
20th June – 27th July
Various Times
Peace didn’t know what she needed when her father died. Then she found Bolu, her half-brother from Nigeria she didn’t know existed. Despite her mother’s concerns and encouraged by her partner, Peace invites Bolu to England. Filled with grief and a thousand questions, his arrival feels like something clicking into place.
Slave Play
NOËL COWARD THEATRE
29TH JUNE – 21ST SEPTEMBER
Various Times
At the MacGregor Plantation the Old South is alive and well. The heat in the air, the cotton fields and the power of the whip. Yet nothing is quite as it appears… or maybe it is.
Your Lie In April
Harold Pinter Theatre
28th June – 21st September
Various Times
A young piano prodigy, and his inability to play following his mother’s death. He strikes a friendship with violinist Kaori Miyazono and she slowly encourages him to perform again.
Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York)
Criterion Theatre
4th April – 14th July
Various Times
Dougal is a naive, impossibly upbeat Brit who’s just landed in New York for his dad’s second wedding The dad he’s never known. Waiting for him at the airport is Robin, the sister of the bride. She’s a native New Yorker, she’s late for work, and she doesn’t have time to stop and see the sights. Instant attraction? Nope. But with an extravagant wedding approaching and the Big Apple at their feet, anything could happen…
Live Drafts: Temi Wilkey
The Yard Theatre
4th July – 6th July
19:30
This is Temi’s show. It’s all about her. Not you. Her.
Temi got veeeery good at being everybody’s sassy best friend. Growing up a black girl in a white world shunts you into playing a side character in your own life. But now she’s stepping into her Main Character Energy and it’s your privilege and pleasure to give her all the attention she deserves.
A Terrible Show for Terrible People
Soho Theatre
11th July
22:15
A TERRIBLE SHOW FOR TERRIBLE PEOPLE is a raunchy physical comedy romp with movement, dance, brief video clips, burlesque, some audience participation and some props. Prominent among the props are pickles. (You and Dr. Freud may make of that what you will.)
One Last Drink
Chelsea Theatre
12th – 14th July
Various Times
One last drink explores the unspoken burden of the “strong friend.” We’ve all heard that saying before “check on your strong friend” especially when another suicide hits the news. People suddenly begin to remember to check on their strong friends. One last drink shows how the person carrying the least bits of weakness and smiling through the most amount of pain isn’t strong, but they are hiding.In a world so fixated on romantic love, the play highlights the love between 4 friends and how sometimes no matter how powerful that love is, it just wasn’t enough to save their friend from the hands of suicide and depression.
ECHO (Every Cold-Hearted)
Royal Court Theatre
13th – 27th July
Various Times
ECHO asks us to confront what it feels like to be a immigrant in time, as much as in space. Fusing technology with the oldest tricks in the book, ECHO is an experiment in concept touring for the age of climate crisis: an ambitious, magical and uncompromising production where no one travels yet everybody can be present.
FANGIRLS
Lyric Theatre
13th July – 24th August
Various Times
Meet Edna: she’s 14, she’s a misfit, and she’s in love with Harry. There’s just one problem: Harry’s in the world’s biggest boy band, has 38 million fans, and doesn’t know she exists. When Harry’s band announces a tour stop in Edna’s hometown of Sydney, Australia, she knows this is her destiny – her one chance to meet him. But how on EARTH will she get Harry’s attention?! And exactly how far is she prepared to go in the name of love?
Death of England: Delroy
Soho Place
23rd July – 28th September
Various Times
Unapologetically upwardly mobile and working as a bailiff, Delroy’s life spirals out of control on one surreal day as he races to get to the hospital where his girlfriend Carly is about to give birth.
Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World
The Other Place
20th July – 8th September
Various Times
From explorers to artists, scientists to secret agents, the stories of women who shaped our world are raised up with feelgood music and choreography that packs a pop-star punch – prepare to move and be moved!
Tarot + Kemah Bob
Seven Dials Playhouse
22nd July
19:30
Rahul Subramanian: Who Are You?
Soho Theatre
22nd – 27th July
Various Times
After the success of two hit stand-up shows, including releasing India’s first crowd work special Rahul Talks To People, you’d think Rahul would be pretty confident in who he is as a person. Not the case. Join him in figuring it all out in Who Are You? (Disclaimer: this show will not help anyone struggling to figure out who they are, but it will be very funny.)
How I Learned to Swim
Brixton House
24th July -14th September
Various Times
Jamie can’t swim. Bit awkward when you’re 30. Fuelled by guilt and a need to mend her broken family, Jamie is taking on her biggest fear. The ocean.
EXHIBITION
Otobong Nkanga: We Come from Fire and Return to Fire
Lisson Gallery
24th May – 3rd August
Various Times
For her inaugural exhibition with Lisson Gallery, Otobong Nkanga presents new sculptural objects, tapestries and a sound installation, as well as wall-hung and floor-based works – combining materials as diverse as clay, rope, glass, wood, textiles, oils and herbs.
BLCKGEEZER: BLACK NAUSEA / 24
Alma Pearl
31st May – 6th July
Various Times
BLCKGEEZER invokes black as a material, a state, a colour, a mood, concept, and site of abstraction.
Parham Ghalamdar: Deep Desert Objekt
Pipeline
31st May – 6th July
Various Times
Born in Tehran, Parham Ghalamdar’s influences lie in Iranian myths and the changing natural landscape of the Middle East. For Ghalamader, Iranian mythology hinges on two elements: water and soil.
Weer Loo – The Cry Of The Curlew
JGM Gallery
29th May – 13th July
Various Times
An exhibition of watercolour and acrylic paintings by Hubert Tjapaltjarri Pareroultja, a proud Arrernte man living and working on Country in his traditional homelands of Ntaria, South Central Australia.
Noku / Nauman
Saachi Yates
19th June – 16th August
Various Times
Nokukhanya Langa’s Post-Minimalist aesthetic is echoed in the repetitive, tasklike exercises of Nauman’s conceptual works. Unlearning the rigidity of her training in traditional oil painting, she plays with abstract motifs; lines, dots, scribbles and various other mark making techniques are paired with phrases, arrows and signs which lead the viewer nowhere. Langa’s sculptural canvases comment on contemporary post-internet culture, highlighting themes of futility, alienation, and online identity.
Hettie Inniss: Rememories from the Floating World
Grimm Gallery
30th May – 20th July
Various Times
Inniss’s work responds to multisensory influences and bodily experiences, capturing and preserving a moment in time inflected by scent, light, sound and memory. Across the works on view in the exhibition is a desire for recollection, of exploring the past in order to make sense of the present.
Hajime SorayamaI: I, Robot
Almine Rech
30th May – 27th July
Various Times
Sorayama’s ongoing Sexy Robots series ponders the alluring, intimidating imaginary of a cyborg human, merging woman and droid, fleshy anatomy and flashy armor, in a cheeky and unsettling continuum from the Hollywood pin-up to the fantastical future.
Aisha Seriki: Ori Inu
Doyale Wham
23rd May – 27th July
Various Times
Orí Inú takes from the Yoruba Metaphysical conception “Orí’ which translates to the head and refers to one’s spiritual destiny. Using the calabash as a metaphor, Orí Inú depicts the artist’s attempts to mend the break between her mind and spirit. It thereby demonstrates how reconnecting with one’s inner spirit is both a continuous endeavour and a condition of the human experience.
WHAT I THOUGHT I KNEW
Bernie Grant Arts Centre
13th June – 31st August
Various Times
What I Thought I Knew is the first of two exhibitions from Mckenzie and will feature works from ten emerging and established artists. With her signature sensuality and emphasis on intimacy, the exhibitions see Mckenzie reflect on familial archives, oral histories and stories from ‘back home’; examining how these histories informed what she had thought was possible for the future.
YOKO ONO: MUSIC OF THE MIND
Tate Modern
15th February – 1st September
Various Times
Spanning more than seven decades, YOKO ONO: MUSIC OF THE MIND is the UK’s largest exhibition celebrating key moments in Ono’s groundbreaking, influential and multidisciplinary career, from the mid-1950s to now – including her years in London where she met her future husband and longtime collaborator John Lennon.
Yinka Shonibare CBE: Suspended States
Serpentine South Gallery
12th April – 1st September
Various Times
“Suspended States addresses the suspension of boundaries, whether psychological, physical, or geographical — all boundaries of nationhood are in a state of suspense. This is an exhibition in which Western iconography is reimagined and interrogated, at a moment in history when Nationalism, protectionism and hostility towards foreigners is on the rise.” – Yinka Shonibare CBE
Ernest Cole: A Lens in Exile
AUTOGRAPH
13th June – 12th October
Various Times
The first exhibition of Ernest Cole’s photographs documenting New York City during the height of the civil rights movement in America
C. Rose Smith: Talking Back to Power
AUTOGRAPH
13th June – 12th October
Various Times
Confronting the histories of violence and wealth on cotton plantations in the Southern United States, Talking Back to Power proposes a reclamation of black visibility
ZANELE MUHOLI
Tate Modern
6th June 2024 – 26th January 2025
Various Times
Muholi describes themself as a visual activist. From the early 2000s, they have documented and celebrated the lives of South Africa’s Black lesbian, gay, trans, queer and intersex communities.
ABLADE GLOVER: INNER WORLDS, OUTER JOURNEYS
October Gallery
4th JULY – 3rd AUGUST
Various Times
Glover’s latest show, Inner Worlds, Outer Journeys, traces an arc of development, which his younger self, setting out on a journey of inner and outer discoveries, might not have imagined he could ever achieve as part of the unfolding tapestry of an accomplished life in art.
TALK
AN EVENING WITH IRENOSEN OKOJIE
Online
27th – 11th July
18:30
Award winning author and winner of AKO Caine Prize for African Writing, Irenosen Okojie, to celebrate the release of her extraordinary and thrilling mythical novel, Curandera.
David Olusoga: Black British History and Belonging
Southbank Centre
11th July
19:30
Historian and filmmaker David Olusoga charts the story of Black British history, bringing to light overlooked narratives, in conversation with Nesrine Malik.
Strong Like Us: Kelechi Okafor & Friends
Southbank Centre
13th July
19:30
The author is joined by a panel of remarkable women, who discuss life learnings and advocate for the inner child in us all.
Tavares Strachan in Conversation with Emma Dabiri
Southbank Centre
20th July
19:30
Hear from artist Tavares Strachan and bestselling author, academic and broadcaster Emma Dabiri, as they discuss the Hayward Gallery’s current exhibition, and belonging.
You Belong Here: British Identity
Southbank Centre
20th July
14:00
A panel of writers, including Xiaolu Guo and Tomiwa Owolade, engage with Britain’s past, wrestle with its present and offer us alternatives for the future.
Let’s Talk About SEX!
Brixton House
30th July
19:00
Let’s talk about it! Join a dynamic panel of three progressive and inspiring writers, Charlene Douglas, Sareeta Domingo and Jackson King, as they delve into everything you have ever wanted to discuss about sex.
EVENTS
Talawa Firsts 2024
Talawa Studio
1st – 12th July
Various Times
A festival of new and emerging Black work and artists.
K-Folklore: Past, Present, and Future
Korean Cultural Centre UK
2nd July
18:00 – 20:00
Showcase featuring Korean traditional art, music, and dance from past, present, and future!
MY WORD! Poetry & music open mic night
Grow Hackney
2nd July
19:00 – 23:00
An intimate & soulful night of poetry, spoken word, and live music and a space to showcase talent in London through, poetry and music.
BOX OF LAUGHS WITH MUHSIN YESILADA
BOXPARK SHOREDITCH
2nd July
19:00 – 22:00
A comedy night in the intimate setting.
AdeJosh’ @ 30 Release Party – All Black
Factory 15 Bar & Events Venue at MAKE IT Barking
4th July
19:00 – 01:00
In collaboration with ESV get ready for a night to remember filled with exclusive music and a performance from AdeJosh
Golden Mic Comedy
BOXPARK CROYDON
4th July
19:00 – 23:00
Giving you that real raw stand up experience
Black Marketplace Popup
Rich Mix
5th – 6th July
19:00 – 23:00
Black Marketplace Popup, Shoreditch returns for 2 days of shopping, food & drink, courtesy of some of London’s best Black-owned businesses.
ABHISHEK UPMANYU
Hackney Empire
6th July
17:00 & 20:30
Upmanyu covers seemingly everyday topics with insightful and hilarious effects. With his Shatabdi-fast delivery & writing prowess, rap is an alternate career option for Abhishek but he refuses on principal.
Free People Presents: Summer Sessions with Nectar Woode
Free People
9th July
19:00 – 21:00
Get ready for festival season with Free People & join us for an exclusive live performance with Nectar Woode in partnership with MOTH Drinks
Reggae Fest London
Electric Brixton
13th – 14th July
23:00 – 05:00
Reggae music festival
Ghana Party In The Park
Oak Hill Park
13th July
12:00 – 20:00
Ghana Party in the Park is a community and cultural event bring the community together.
GROOVE KITCHEN: BLUES & JAZZ JAM SESSION
BOXPARK CROYDON
17th July
19:30 – 23:00
The Groove Kitchen is a Multi Genre inspired open mic jam with a full live band playing a blend of Jazz, Funk, R&B, Neo Soul & Blues!
THE BLACK BOOK EXCHANGE
BOXPARK SHOREDITCH
21st July
12:00 – 17:00
Discover, Swap, and Connect at the Swaggiest Book Swap Event in London!
DIVERSE NIGHTS: R&B PARTY
BOXPARK CROYDON
25th July
19:00 – 01:00
R&B Party is an event dedicated to giving you the finest R&B sounds from the last three decades.
If you have attended any of these venues and/or events, please leave a comment to talk about your experience. Make sure to book and be part of the culture.