To celebrate Human Rights Day on the 10th of December, the festival committee organised a mini-exhibition to ask the question, What does Human Rights mean to you?
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Students at Oxford Brookes University were asked to express their interpretation of this question however they wanted, on the size of an A3 sheet. ​
Oxford Human Rights Festival Opening Event
Friday
13 MARCH
Nabeel Hamdi Lecture by Peter Clegg
17:30-19:30
Venue: JHB Main Lecture Theatre
Join us for the Annual Nabeel Hamdi Lecture at the opening of the Oxford Human Rights Festival 2026, featuring Peter Clegg, recipient of an OBE in 2025 for his outstanding social and environmental contributions. Peter will share the story of Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize and numerous Civic Trust and Sustainability awards. Founded over 45 years ago, the practice is driven by a mission to widen the reach of the architectural profession. He will discuss the early days of establishing a practice dedicated to low-energy, sustainable, and socially responsible design. The talk also reflects on twenty years of the Feilden Foundation’s educational projects across East Africa, alongside the creation of design guides for School Buildings and Climate Responsive Design. This opening lecture offers a personal look at how architectural practice prioritises social value and human rights through collaborative acts informed by community and environmental principles.
Click here to reserve a ticket on eventbrite!
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Oxford Human Rights Festival Programmes
Saturday
14 MARCH
Palestinian Tatreez Workshop
13:00-16:15
A display of heritage items at first with a presentation about the history of Tatreez, “the traditional Palestinian embroidery”, followed by a two-hour immersive workshop celebrating the art of Tatreez that stitches together stories of resilience, identity, and resistance. This hands-on event invites participants of all skill levels to learn the techniques and symbolism of Tatreez while engaging in dialogue around Palestinian human rights, cultural preservation, and collective memory.
Venue: JHB B08 Lecture Theatre
Click here to reserve a ticket on eventbrite!
Click here to reserve a ticket on eventbrite!
Sunday
15 MARCH
13:00-16:00
​Palestinian Poetry and Dabke
A time that celebrates the heartbeat of Palestinian heritage, the second day opens with spoken poetry and film, creating space for voice, reflection, and collective listening. Poets share powerful words on memory, belonging, resistance, and hope, followed by short film screenings for The Hands Up Project, amplifying Palestinian stories.
The programme then moves into Dabke, the energetic and communal Palestinian dance that carries the rhythm of the land and the strength of its people. Through movement, unity, and shared footsteps, the Dabke gathering honours Palestinian culture, identity, and collective resilience.
Venue: JHB B08 Lecture Theatre
Through 2000 years of Patriarchy, women have been imprisoned, tortured, and executed. Found guilty of witchcraft, hysteria, insanity, or the ‘impurity’ of childbirth, women have been locked up simply for the crime of being women. And right now, across the world, women’s freedoms - in body, mind and spirit - are taking a disturbing lurch backwards. With the election of convicted sex offenders to world power, the rollback of abortion rights in the US, the horrific regime in Afghanistan, forced child marriage, the incel movement and the alarming rise of domestic abuse during Covid, there is a pressing need to stand up and challenge these trends. In our militarised masculine world, it is high time to expose the lies societies have been fed by organised religion and politics. Incarcerating Eve explores who controls the narrative and what truth got buried along the way. We reveal ‘Herstory’ – the wisdom lost to generations - unearthing the truth instinctively understood by indigenous communities and anthropologists: that in the earliest of times, the divine feminine and masculine energies were revered equally and in balance. By connecting this knowledge with Eve’s stories of today, the play asks what needs to change for us to build a world that once again respects Mother Earth and chooses love and kindness over violence and war.
Monday
16 MARCH
Incarcerating Eve
A play by
Mandala Theatre Company
16:45-18:30
Venue: SKW Hall Flat (CLC G.03)
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Click here to reserve a ticket on eventbrite!
Click here to reserve a ticket on eventbrite!
Monday
16 MARCH
Film screening of Dancing with the Devil, a documentary by Academy Award-winning director Jon Blair. The film follows three men in Rio de Janeiro's drug war: a gang leader, a police inspector and a pastor working inside the favelas. Each perspective focuses on attempts to break free from cycles of violence, crime and fear through personal risk, moral choices and the cost of seeking change in one of the most violent urban conflicts in the world. Event include a post-film Q&A with the director, Jon Blair.
Dancing with the Devil: Film Screening and Discussion with Jon Blair
19:00-20:00
Venue: JHB 308 Kennedy Lecture Theatre
Tuesday
17 MARCH
The Phoenix of Gaza
​Film Screening and Discussion
19:00-21:00
Venue: JHB Main Lecture Theatre
Join the Oxford Human Rights Festival 2026 for a screening of The Phoenix of Gaza. This event is organised by the Oxford Brookes Gaza Scholarship and co-hosted by the Oxford Ramallah Friendship Association. After a decade away from home, beginning in 2013 with a fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the study of journalism at Oxford University, Yousef decided to travel back to Gaza in the summer of 2023 to reconnect with the people and places of his childhood. His intention was to make a documentary film, which would reveal the hidden beauties, joys, and treasures of Gaza. Yousef created extensive reportage of Gaza’s historic buildings, recreational spaces, its beach life, its olive and fruit groves & orchards, its museums, mosques, churches, restaurants, shopping malls, markets, graduation and wedding ceremonies, cultural heritage as well as capturing rare aerial footage of Gaza. Little did Yousef realise the footage taken during his 2 months trip would become some of the final records of the cultural, social and recreational life of the besieged and blockaded enclave prior to its absolute destruction by Israel beginning on October 8th 2023, a devastating war lasted for over 600 days so far The film provides a unique perspective on a community under blockade through the lens of a person returning home. Following the screening, Yousef Alhelou will lead a live Q&A session to discuss the film and the current situation in Gaza.
Click here to reserve a ticket on eventbrite!
Click here to reserve a ticket on eventbrite!
​A screening of the Soviet-Cuban international co-production, I am Cuba, with a short introduction giving context to the film's background and the importance of the time in which it was made. Following will be a discussion on the film's portrayal of resistance to oppression and the effects of it on the Cuban people, and how this can be examined in relation to the future of Cuba past the revolution, and how it should be viewed in light of the oppression under Castro’s regime afterwards.
Wednesday
18 MARCH
I am Cuba
​Film Screening and Discussion
18:00-21:30
Venue: JHB 308 Kennedy Lecture Theatre
​The Oxford Prison and Castle Tour will offer participants an immersive experience of a historic detention site, providing valuable insight into how punishment, confinement, and justice were historically administered. By engaging directly with the physical spaces of imprisonment, participants will gain a deeper understanding of historical human rights violations in prisons, the conditions faced by inmates, and the evolution of penal practices over time. The central theme of the excursion is “Human Rights violations in Prison,” with a particular focus on forms of punishment in historical contexts, daily life inside prisons, conditions of confinement, the transformation of prison systems over time, and the shifting balance between punishment and rehabilitation.
Thursday
19 MARCH
​Right Behind Bars: Oxford Prison Tour
10:00-11:30
Venue: Oxford Castle & Prison
Click here to reserve a ticket on eventbrite!
Click here to reserve a ticket on eventbrite!
Thursday
19 MARCH
Right Behind Bars: Panel Discussion
14:00-16:00
Venue: JHB 304
​This panel discussion will address past and current human rights violations in prisons, ethical and legal concerns surrounding incarceration, rehabilitation techniques used for prisoners today, the effectiveness of reintegration programmes, and the social and legal realities faced by former prisoners after release. Experts from relevant fields, including law, criminal justice, human rights, and social rehabilitation, will contribute their professional perspectives. This discussion aims to encourage critical reflection on the justice system and promote a nuanced understanding of prisoners’ rights, dignity, and the modern concept of rehabilitation.
Friday
20 MARCH
Creative Workshop by Mandala Theatre Company
13:00-17:00
Venue: CLC 1.02
Join Yasmin Sidhwa from Mandala Theatre Company for a creative workshop exploring themes of women’s empowerment and the history of gender based oppression. Participants will learn how to express perspectives on reproductive rights, domestic abuse, and mental health through drama, creative writing, and poster making. This session focuses on the silencing of the feminine principle and the goddess within. You will be guided through creative exercises to devise monologues and poetry in a supportive environment. No prior experience in the arts is necessary to attend.
Friday
20 MARCH
Gentle Angry Women: Film Screening and Discussion
A new generation of young female activists uncovers a powerful, often overlooked chapter of women's history and the alarming reality of British nuclear armament. As they navigate the complexities of teenage life and social activism, three young women - Poppy, Xanthe, and Evie - embark on a journey of discovery, following in the footsteps of over 30,000 women who forty years earlier united in peaceful, liberating protest, the remarkable Greenham Common Women's Peace Movement.
This coming-of-age documentary, driven by intergenerational dialogue, bridges past courage and present hope, speaking to the need for action and change.
Time and Location TBC
Oxford Human Rights Festival Exhibitions
​Discover what ‘freedom’ means across generations. Join us for a powerful art exhibition that brings together voices, stories, and visions of liberation from youth to elders. Step into a reflective and insightful experience that challenges, inspires, and reveals new ways of seeing freedom.
Monday to Friday
16-20 MARCH
Intergenerational Freedom Exhibition
9:00-16:00
Venue: Glass Tank
​What It Means to Seek Asylum Exhibition
Monday to Friday
16-20 MARCH
9:00-16:00
Venue: Glass Tank
This exhibition looks to share the story of an asylum seeker, illustrating their journey to the UK and the hardships they faced along the way. The aim is to provide a voice for them in their hopes of finding safety and a new home.