Events

SOAS hosts a vibrant and diverse calendar of events throughout the year, both online and in person. From dynamic music performances and inspiring art exhibitions, to thought-provoking public lectures and conversations with leading academics, global thinkers, and influential figures in politics, finance, and beyond – there’s always something happening.

In addition to SOAS-organised events, our global alumni network plays a key role in creating opportunities to connect. Alumni groups around the world host reunions and special gatherings that celebrate the spirit and impact of the SOAS community.

Please note that the alumni team does not manage all events directly, and as such, details and accessibility may vary.

Below is just a snapshot of what's coming up. To explore the full range and get involved, visit SOAS events.

Alumni Receptions Around the World

  • Aerial view of a dense city with modern high‑rise buildings, office towers and residential blocks surrounded by tree‑lined roads, with a hazy skyline stretching into the distance under a bright blue sky.

    Alumni Receptions in Southeast Asia

    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. 

    RSVP
  • QS World Rankings 2025

    Alumni Receptions in India

    24 - 30 October 2025

    This October, SOAS is heading to India to celebrate and strengthen our vibrant alumni community - and we want you there.

    Join Dean of College of Law, Professor Eddie Bruce-Jones, for a series of exclusive alumni evenings in Mumbai, Kolkata, and Delhi.

    In Mumbai and Kolkata, enjoy relaxed networking drinks with Professor Eddie Bruce-Jones and fellow alumni - a chance to meet new faces, reminisce and hear updates from SOAS. In Delhi, we're thrilled to announce that Professor Bruce-Jones will be joined by Keshav Suri, a prominent Indian activist, entrepreneur, and law alumnus, for an evening of inspiring conversation and connection.

    RSVP

Events in London and online

  • Composite artwork divided into multiple sections, showing an overhead view of two people lying in shallow seawater on a sandy beach, a distant silhouette over calm water, a building wall with a window and tree shadows and a circular concrete surface.

    New SOAS Gallery exhibition

    16 April to 20 June

    10:30am - 5pm

    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.

    Find out more
  • Street procession carrying a seated Buddha statue on a decorated platform, held aloft by participants walking through a busy urban street lined with buildings, signage and overhead cables, with onlookers gathered around.

    Meritorious Collecting and Curating in Buddhist Southeast Asia

    28 April

    5.30 - 7pm

    SOAS campus, London

    When is a temple a museum? How is a museum in the temple? This event will explore these and other questions through the lens of Buddhist merit-making, with a focus on Shan temples in Myanmar and northern Thailand.

    The discussion will invite responses to the notion that localised practices of collecting and curating challenge conventional narratives about Shan Buddhist culture in Southeast Asia.

    ‘Meritorious Collecting and Curating in Buddhist Southeast Asia’ is also the title of a digital archive that is being developed in collaboration with SOAS Digital Collections.

    Book your place
  • Illustrated artwork showing a stylised bird viewed from above with wings fully spread, featuring detailed patterned feathers in muted cream and gold tones, a red head with large eyes, and a long beak against a pale background.

    Transnational Japanisms: Art, craft, design

    15 - 16 May

    6pm - 9pm

    London and online

    This two-day conference 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.t.

    A full programme will be announced in due course, and include sessions on Transnational Japanese Art, Japanese Art Beyond the Mainland, Japonisme and Worlding the Nation(s); Conversation with Research Centre for Transnational Art, Identity and Nation (TrAIN) about 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.

    The event will also be livestreamed via Zoom in English.

    More information
  • Outdoor scene showing a person wearing a bright green costume performing with raised arms beside a large bronze statue on a stone pedestal, set among palm trees and modern buildings in a sunlit urban environment.

    The Art of Memory: Colonialism, History, & Gender in Contemporary Namibian Art

    14 May

    6pm - 8pm

    UCL, London

    Join us for an evening of discussion at UCL as artists and scholars explore how visual and performative art may inspire historical reckonings as well as wide social change and political action.

    Multidisciplinary artists Gift Uzera, Muningandu Hoveka, Nicola Brandt (via Zoom), and Hildegard Titus will be joined by art historian Tamar Garb (UCL, Art History) and historians Wayne Dooling (SOAS, History) and Fabian Krautwald (UCL, History) to discuss the relationship between art, history, and memory in southern Africa and beyond.

    This event is part of an exhibition of two contemporary Namibian artworks by Gift Uzera, Muningandu Hoveka, and Nicola Brandt at UCL History Department., London.

    More information
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