Arts Week 2026 - Birkbeck, University of London

5 May, 2pm Political Laundry: a Taster Workshop

Join artist Mary Ann Hushlak for this workshop. Political Laundry is a form of invitation that allows us to uncover who we each are as political beings.

5 May, 4.30pm Adaptation for the Stage - a transformative experience between languages and genres

How do we transform short fiction into drama? Participate in this workshop exploring the reworking of literary language through creative chaos across place and language.

5 May, 5pm French literary polemics - Event Cancelled

Eminent biographer Andrew Hussey dives into 1940s French politics and philosophy. Meet Sartre, Céline and little-known Isou. Expect difficult topics and a Q&A with Birkbeck’s Damian Catani as chair.

5 May, 6pm The Disappeared Woman: The dramaturgy of tropes and trauma

Join prizewinning dramaturg Rosie Wyatt and our panel to investigate how dramaturgy challenges images of women as victims. An evening of debate and discussion, so bring your ideas.

5 May, 6pm Japan in transition: the documentary cinema of Haneda Sumiko

Celebrate Haneda Sumiko's amazing film documentary career with this roundtable of writers on her work. Bring thoughts and questions.

5 May, 6pm William Morris and Utopia

What did utopia look like to the nineteenth century’s most brilliant designer, William Morris? Leading Morris scholar Michael Robertson explores. Q&A.

5 May, 6pm The Country of Words

Discuss two new books on the sanctuary of words and how we can use them: Julia Bell’s Between the Lines and Marina Warner’s Sanctuary: Ways of Telling, Ways of Dwelling.

5 May, 6pm Decolonial Poetics and Ecology Workshop

Work with poets to rethink the natural world. Explore how poetry and poetics inhabit or envisage decolonial approaches to ecologies. Bring an object or document.

6 May, 5.15pm Adapting John le Carré's "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" for the stage

Join playwright David Eldridge (Birkbeck) and panelists to discuss their adaptation of John le Carré's novel. Q&A. Image: Ralf Little as Alec Leamas in the National Tour of "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" Photograph by Johan Persson (2026)

6 May, 6pm Turning Points: Journeys of New Knowledge Producers

How do Black and working class people become health researchers? This documentary screening traces their paths. Bring ideas and questions.

6 May, 6pm Women, History and the Stage: Creative Encounters with the Medieval Past

How can drama explore past lives? Join playwright Sarah Dickenson, historian Matthew Davies and our brilliant MFA Directors to dig deep. Q&A.

6 May, 6pm The Architecture of Post-War British Homes

Join us to find out more about what the architecture of Post-war UK homes tells us about policy, sex, race and class. Illustrated talk, Q&A.

6 May, 6pm Poetry Reading by Keith Jarrett

Join us for a reading by prize-winning London-based poet, performer and academic of Jamaican heritage. Q&A.

6 May, 6pm The Art of Couture Embroidery Live

Fashion historian Robert Ossant and industry expert Jessica Pile show how methods commonly used in art history can be applied to garments and textile surfaces. Bring ideas.

7 May, 3pm Writing Town and Village in Seventeenth Century England

What kinds of writings tell us about life in the towns and village of seventeenth-century England? Join speakers including Erica Fudge to explore parishes, policing and animals. Q&A

7 May, 6pm Masterclass with Actor Roger Ashton-Griffiths

Celebrated actor Roger Ashton-Griffiths (Brazil, Game of Thrones) joins Birkbeck's Daragh Carville for a masterclass on his career in film and television. Q&A.

7 May, 6pm 30 Years of Edward Yang's Mahjong: Screening and Discussion

Join us for this screening of Mahjong by renowned film-maker Edward Yang, and celebrate its 30th anniversary with a talk by expert Dr Carrie Poon. Bring your questions.

7 May, 6pm Cosmopolitan Cities? Politics, Language and Spaces of Consumption

Are cities cosmopolitan? Focusing on Barcelona, London and Shanghai, this panel explores food, citizenship and consumption. Q&A.

7 May, 6pm Fed on Scraps: Bits of Animals in the Early Modern Archive

How can we put animals at the centre of our shared histories? Animal expert and Renaissance scholar Erica Fudge points the way. Q&A.

8 May, 3.30pm Tube Film

Join filmmakers Kimia Ipakchi and Orla Smith on a personal journey around the London transport network, as one friend films another facing one of her biggest fears. A discussion on the therapeutic potential of creative practice follows. Q&A.

8 May, 6pm Elvira Notari: Beyond the Silence (2025): Screening and Panel

See Valerio Ciraci's 2025 documentary rediscovering a woman pioneer film-maker and hear the film’s director talk. Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image event. Q&A.

8 May, 6pm The Post-Human Desert: Toward a definition of Authorship in an age of AI

What does it mean to be an author in the 21st century, and how is AI changing the terms? Discuss this with games writer Imogen West-Knights and tech entrepreneur Ajay Chowdhury and Birkbeck writer Wes Brown in conversation.

8 May, 6pm The Medieval Guide to Healthy Living

Learn to live healthily, the medieval way. Birkbeck author Katherine Harvey is in conversation with Clara Rawlings. Expect discussion of the senses and of course many top health tips. Bring thoughts for the discussion.