We kicked off our mini event on 10 December to celebrate Human Rights Day. The festival committee launched an exhibition asking a single, powerful question: What do human rights mean to you?
Students across Oxford Brookes University stepped up to the challenge. They filled A3 sheets with bold ideas and creative energy, using everything from sketches to poetry. The result was a striking collection of personal stories and diverse perspectives on what human rights mean to them.
Friday
13 MARCH 2026
Annual Nabeel Hamdi Lecture: Delivering Social Value in Architectural Practice by Award-Winning Architect Peter Clegg OBE
17:30-19:30
Venue:
JHB Main Lecture Theatre,
John Henry Brookes Building, Oxford Brookes University
Join us for the Annual Nabeel Hamdi Lecture, featuring award winning Architect Peter Clegg, who received an OBE in 2025 for his social and environmental contributions. This event opens the Oxford Human Rights Festival 2026 with an introduction by Professor Helen Laville, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University. Peter will discuss his studio’s mission to prioritise social value and sustainable design through community-informed architecture. He will also reflect on twenty years of educational projects across East Africa with the Feilden Foundation. Light refreshments will be provided at the end of the lecture.
Saturday
14 MARCH 2026
Resistance Through Tatreez:
Traditional Palestinian Embroidery Workshop
13:00-16:00
Venue:
JHB B08 Lecture Theatre (Basement), John Henry Brookes Building, Oxford Brookes University
The event begins with a display of heritage items, including Palestinian Thobes and prints from the Palestinian History Tapestry. This is followed by a presentation from the Al Amari Women's Centre on the history of Tatreez and the current situation for families in the camp. The session concludes with a two hour immersive workshop celebrating the art of Tatreez. This hands on event invites you to learn techniques and symbolism while engaging in dialogue around Palestinian human rights, cultural preservation, and collective memory. All skill levels are welcome. Materials and refreshments will be provided.
Sunday
15 MARCH 2026
13:00-16:00
Voice, Rhythm, and Resistance: Short Films from Gaza, Poetry, and Dabke
Venue:
JHB B08 Lecture Theatre (Basement), John Henry Brookes Building, Oxford Brookes University
This event celebrates the heartbeat of Palestinian heritage, opening with spoken poetry and short films from the Gaza Hands Up Project. These works create a space for voice, reflection, and collective listening while amplifying Palestinian stories. Following the films and a period of shared reflection, the afternoon includes a break to try traditional bread and Za'ttar. The programme then moves into Joy in Dabke. This energetic and communal Palestinian dance carries the rhythm of the land and the strength of its people. Through movement, unity, and shared footsteps, the Dabke gathering with the Oxford Dabke Group honours Palestinian culture, identity, and collective resilience. Refreshments will be provided.
Monday
16 MARCH 2026
16:45-18:30
Venue:
CLC G.03 (SKW Hall Flat), Clerici Building,
Oxford Brookes University
Incarcerating Eve by Mandala Theatre Company
Through 2000 years of patriarchy, women have faced imprisonment and torture for perceived crimes like witchcraft or hysteria. Today, women’s freedoms face a disturbing global retreat through the rollback of reproductive rights and rising domestic abuse. Incarcerating Eve exposes the narratives used by organised religion and politics to suppress women throughout history. The play unearths Herstory to reveal ancient wisdom where feminine and masculine energies existed in balance. By connecting these origins to modern stories, the performance asks how we can build a world rooted in love rather than violence.
Monday
16 MARCH 2026
Dancing with the Devil: Film Screening and Discussion with Academy Award winning director, Jon Blair CBE
Film screening of Dancing with the Devil, a documentary by Academy Award-winning director Jon Blair. Dancing with the Devil provides an unfiltered look into the drug war in Rio de Janeiro. The film follows three individuals on different sides of the conflict: a gang leader in the favelas; a police inspector from the elite civil police; and a pastor who mediates between the two worlds. Through these personal accounts; the documentary examines the moral choices and human cost of living within a cycle of systemic violence. It offers a rare perspective on the complexity of law enforcement; crime; and the struggle for peace in one of the most violent urban environments in the world. Event include a post-film Q&A with the director, Jon Blair.
19:00-21:30
Venue:
JHB 308 (Kennedy Lecture Theatre), John Henry Brookes Building, Oxford Brookes University
Tuesday
17 MARCH 2026
16:30-17:30
Venue:
The Lab,
Abercrombie Building,
Oxford Brookes University
The discussion will be moderated by architect Peter Newman. Taking place at the lab, next to the Glass Tank exhibition space, this open event invites the public to reflect on the role of the architect beyond building as witness, as cultural agent, and as a voice in moments of political and moral rupture. Through drawing, Guy responds to the events in Gaza and to what he perceives as the silence of mainstream media in Israel.
The conversation will explore the responsibilities of practice in times of crisis and ask what it means to act, or to remain silent, as a professional today.
In Conversation: A Wail by Proxy - Architecture, Witness, and Responsibility
Tuesday
17 MARCH 2026
The Phoenix of Gaza: Film Screening and Q&A with Yousef Al Helou
19:00-21:00
This film captures the final records of cultural and social life in Gaza before the widespread destruction began in October 2023. Journalist Yousef Alhelou traveled back to his childhood home to document the hidden beauty of the enclave, including historic buildings and vibrant community spaces. His footage now serves as a rare and vital archive of a community under blockade through the eyes of a person returning home. Following the screening, Yousef Alhelou will lead a live discussion and Q&A session regarding the film and the current situation in Gaza.
Venue:
JHB Main Lecture Theatre,
John Henry Brookes Building, Oxford Brookes University
I am Cuba: Breaking Free in Revolutionary Cinema
Venue:
JHB Main Lecture Theatre,
John Henry Brookes Building, Oxford Brookes University
Wednesday
18 MARCH 2026
18:00-21:30
Experience the visual masterpiece I Am Cuba, a Soviet-Cuban co-production that remains one of the most stylistically ambitious films in cinema history. The session begins with a short introduction to the historical context of the 1960s and the film’s revolutionary production techniques. Event include a post-film Q&A with Dr Francesco Sticchi and Dr Neil Harris.
Thursday
19 MARCH 2026
10:15-11:45
Right Behind Bars: Oxford Prison Tour
Venue:
Oxford Castle & Prison, Oxford Castle
Step inside the walls of Oxford’s historic Prison for an immersive exploration of justice, punishment, and human rights! This guided tour uncovers centuries of prison life, from harsh conditions and punitive practices to evolving rehabilitation. Discover how ideas of confinement and punishment have changed over time, and reflect on their relevance to modern human rights in prisons.
Thursday
19 MARCH 2026
Venue:
JHB 304,
John Henry Brookes Building,
Oxford Brookes University
Right Behind Bars: Panel Discussion
14:00-16:00
This panel discussion addresses human rights violations in prisons, legal concerns surrounding incarceration, and the effectiveness of reintegration programmes. Experts will explore the social realities faced by prisoners to encourage critical reflection on the justice system. Speakers include Dr Richard Carver (Oxford Brookes University), a specialist in torture prevention; Jeanette Hall (Royal Holloway, University of London), a researcher and former prison manager focused on detention conditions; Tom Bartlett, a Senior Support Worker for "Through the Prison Gate" assisting prison leavers; and Fatima Rahman, a member of the People's Tribunal researching state violence and accountability. Refreshments will be provided. Stay after the talk for a chance to connect with the speakers and fellow attendees.
Friday
20 MARCH 2026
Venue:
CLC 1.02, Clerici Building, Oxford Brookes University
15:00-17:00
Creative Workshop: Exploring Women’s Empowerment and Oppression by Mandala Theatre Company
Join Yasmin Sidhwa from Mandala Theatre Company for a creative workshop exploring women’s empowerment and the history of gender based oppression. This session focuses on the silencing of the feminine principle, reproductive rights, domestic abuse, and postpartum mental health. Participants will learn to express their perspectives through drama, creative writing, and poster making. You will be guided to devise monologues and poetry in a supportive environment. No prior experience in the arts is necessary.
Gentle, Angry Women: Film Screening and Discussion
Join us for a screening and discussion of Gentle Angry Women. This coming of age documentary follows three young activists as they uncover the history of the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Movement and the reality of British nuclear armament. The film bridges past courage with present hope through intergenerational dialogue and stories of peaceful protest. Following the screening, Dr Michele Paule will moderate a discussion with filmmaker Barbara Santi and activists Nuala Young and Di McDonald. This event is open to everyone above 12 years old.
Venue:
JHB 308 (Kennedy Lecture Theatre), John Henry Brookes Building, Oxford Brookes University
Friday
20 MARCH 2026
19:00-21:30
Monday to Friday
16-20 MARCH 2026
Venue:
Glass Tank & The Lab, Abercrombie Building, Oxford Brookes University
9:00-18:00
Intergenerational Freedom Exhibition
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.
A Wail by Proxy: An Architects duty in the face of a Genocide by Guy Margolin Aberjel
This exhibition is a personal response by an Israeli architect to the near-total silencing of the genocide in Gaza within Israeli public life. Confronting media censorship, political denial, and public indifference, the work uses scale, numbers, and figurative drawings to make Palestinian suffering impossible to ignore. It functions as a visual wail, an act of witness and moral refusal, demanding recognition of violence rendered invisible.
Iraqi Women Art and War: Breaking Free
المرأة العراقية الفن والحرب : التحرر
A collective exhibition amplifying women’s voices through art. It stands against all forms of violence against women and girls, including domestic abuse, child and forced marriage, sexual exploitation, and the objectification of women.
Featuring works connected to Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, and Baluchistan, the exhibition expresses solidarity with women’s struggles for dignity, freedom, and human rights. Through 2D and 3D artworks, textiles, ceramics, and recorded interviews, art becomes a space for resistance, healing, and reclaiming voice, especially for women, refugees, and asylum seeker.
المرأة العراقية الفن والحرب: التحرر هو معرض فني جماعي يرفع أصوات النساء من خلال الفن، ويقف ضد جميع أشكال العنف الممارس ضد النساء والفتيات، بما في ذلك العنف الأسري، وزواج القاصرات والزواج القسري، والاستغلال الجنسي، وتشييء المرأة.
تتصل الأعمال المعروضة بتجارب نساء من العراق وسوريا وأفغانستان وإيران وباكستان وتركيا وبلوشستان، ويعبر المعرض عن التضامن مع نضال النساء من أجل الكرامة والحرية وحقوق الإنسان. ومن خلال أعمال فنية ثنائية وثلاثية الأبعاد، النسيج ، السيراميك، ومقابلات مسجلة، يتحول الفن إلى مساحة للمقاومة والشفاء واستعادة الصوت، خاصة للنساء واللاجئات وطالبات اللجوء.
