27 April - 11 May

We are delighted to invite you to our annual Vice‑Chancellor Alumni Receptions in Southeast Asia this April & May.

Whether you live or work in Southeast Asia, we would be delighted to meet you in Singapore (27 April), Jakarta (30 April), Bangkok (5 May) and Hong-Kong (11 May).

These events feature a panel led by Professor Adam Hanieh, joined by distinguished SOAS alumni speakers from across the region, exploring:

A New Global Order? Implications of the US–Israeli Attacks on Iran for the Middle East, China, and Southeast Asia.

Each reception, chaired by Vice‑Chancellor Professor Adam Habib, will offer dynamic discussion, an interactive Q&A, networking with alumni and sector professionals and updates from SOAS.

11 May

5 - 8.30pm (UTC+1)

SOAS Gallery Lecture Theatre

Join us for a talk with Achim Steiner, SOAS alumnus, former UN Under‑Secretary‑General and Administrator of UNDP, and one of the world’s leading voices in international development and diplomacy.

In conversation with Dr Alvina Hoffmann (SOAS), Achim Steiner will reflect on his professional journey, lessons learned along the way, and how global leadership is shaped in times of geopolitical uncertainty in this exclusive talk:

Reflections from the Frontlines: Multilateralism, Security, and a World Out of Sync

The evening will conclude with a reception, offering an opportunity to reconnect with fellow alumni, meet students, and engage with the SOAS academic and professional community.

16 April to 20 June

10:30am - 5pm (UTC+1)

SOAS Gallery, London

‘In-/Visible Spectrums: Contemporary Video Art from the Sinosphere’ is a landmark survey exhibition showcasing contemporary video artworks by eleven artists: Huang Yuhui 黄宇辉, Li Nu 李怒, Liang Yue 梁玥, Liu Guoqiang 刘国强, Ma Haijiao 马海蛟, Ma Qiusha 马秋莎, Siu Wai Hang 萧伟恒, Tong Wenmin 童文敏, Xin Yunpeng 辛云鹏, Yi Lian易连 and Zheng Xinhao 郑新皓 produced between 2025 and 2025. 

The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of screenings and panels exploring the making and significance of video artworks by Sinophone artists including several not included in the exhibition.

There will also be a plenary roundtable on the critical interpretation of contemporary video art from the Sinosphere.

1 May

5.30 pm - 7pm (UTC+1)

SOAS Gallery Lecture Theatre

Join us for a talk about the tragic unravelling of Uganda’s struggle for decolonialisation in the early ‘70s with Professor Mahmood Mamdani.

An anthropologist, academic, and political commentator, Mahmood Mamdani is Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and African Studies at Columbia University. He was Director of the Makerere Institute of Social Research in Kampala from 2010 to 2022. His books include Neither Settler nor Native, Citizen and Subject, When Victims Become Killers, and Good Muslim, Bad Muslim.

In conversation with SOAS Professor of Law of Africa Fareda Banda, they will discuss lessons from post-colonial Uganda.

6 May

6.00 - 7.30pm (UTC+1)

SOAS, Paul Webley Wing

Following the return of objects and human remains from Cambridge University to Uganda, curator Eva Namusoke asks: what happens when artefacts return home?

Despite many public calls for restitution and repatriation, there have been few permanent returns of African cultural heritage or ancestral remains from the UK.

‘Afterlives of Return’ is a research project within the African Collections Futures project focused on the June 2024 return of 33 artefacts and the sacred remains of six people from the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge to the Uganda Museum.

12 May

9am - 1pm (UTC+1)

Online

This online workshop brings together museum professionals and researchers to explore how Hindu and Buddhist objects are interpreted and exhibited across diverse cultural and religious contexts.

Focusing on case studies from the Louvre Abu Dhabi and museums throughout Asia and the UK, the programme examines curatorial practices, visitor perspectives, and the ongoing negotiation between institutional frameworks and living religious traditions.

This workshop forms part of Dr Mizuho Ikeda’s research project, supported by the Department of Culture and Tourism–Abu Dhabi, under the Louvre Abu Dhabi Research Fellowship Program.

15 - 16 May

6pm - 9pm (UTC+1)

London and online

This two-day conference, livestreamed via Zoom in English. will address the future of the study of art, craft and design in a transnational perspective.

This event is held in memory of Toshio Watanabe (1945-2025), late Emeritus Professor of Japanese of Arts and Heritage at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures.

The programme includes sessions on Transnational Japanese Art; Japanese Art Beyond the Mainland; Japonisme and Worlding the Nation(s); Transnational and Diaspora Studies.

The conference will be held across two venues – Friday 15 May at the Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS and Saturday 16 May at Chelsea College of Arts, UAL.

18 May

6pm - 7pm (UTC+1)

Senate House, Alumni Lecture Theatre

Join us at SOAS for a special discussion with Germany’s Development Minister, Reem Alabali-Radovan.

A political scientist by training, she has held senior leadership roles across federal and state government, including as Minister of State and Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration, and Federal Commissioner for Anti Racism.

With expertise in the fields of poverty and inequality, gender, and fragility conflict and violence, Minister Alabali Radovan's work focuses on inclusion, equal opportunity, and strengthening Germany’s global partnerships.

The event will be chaired by Laura Hammond, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Knowledge Exchange.