diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index b2d1da305..543b60376 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+2008-02-21  Tomas Frydrych  <tf@openedhand.com>
+
+	* clutter/x11/clutter-backend-x11.h:
+	* clutter/x11/clutter-event-x11.c:
+	* clutter/x11/clutter-x11.h:
+	(clutter_x11_handle_event):
+	(clutter_x11_disable_event_retrieval):
+	Functions to allow to hook into external XEvent retrieval (for
+	example when using clutter with gtk); NB: this API is tentative.
+
 2008-02-21  Emmanuele Bassi  <ebassi@openedhand.com>
 
 	* clutter/x11/clutter-event-x11.c (event_translate): Ignore
diff --git a/clutter/x11/clutter-backend-x11.h b/clutter/x11/clutter-backend-x11.h
index 4a55eef8a..357da8028 100644
--- a/clutter/x11/clutter-backend-x11.h
+++ b/clutter/x11/clutter-backend-x11.h
@@ -66,6 +66,8 @@ struct _ClutterBackendX11
   GSource *event_source;
   GSList  *event_filters;
 
+  gboolean no_xevent_retrieval;
+
   /* props */
   Atom atom_NET_WM_PING;
   Atom atom_NET_WM_STATE;
diff --git a/clutter/x11/clutter-event-x11.c b/clutter/x11/clutter-event-x11.c
index ff7c1c53d..e6e86d272 100644
--- a/clutter/x11/clutter-event-x11.c
+++ b/clutter/x11/clutter-event-x11.c
@@ -163,6 +163,9 @@ _clutter_backend_x11_events_init (ClutterBackend *backend)
   ClutterEventSource *event_source;
   int connection_number;
 
+  if (backend_x11->no_xevent_retrieval)
+    return;
+
   connection_number = ConnectionNumber (backend_x11->xdpy);
   CLUTTER_NOTE (EVENT, "Connection number: %d", connection_number);
 
@@ -654,6 +657,79 @@ events_queue (ClutterBackend *backend)
     }
 }
 
+/**
+ * clutter_x11_handle_event
+ * @xevent: pointer to XEvent structure
+ *
+ * This function processes a single X event; it can be used to hook
+ * into external X event retrieval (for example that done by GDK).
+ *
+ * Return: #ClutterX11FilterReturn indicating what the caller should
+ *         do with the original event.
+ *
+ * Since:  0.8
+ */
+ClutterX11FilterReturn
+clutter_x11_handle_event (XEvent *xevent)
+{
+  ClutterBackend      *backend;
+  ClutterEvent        *event;
+  ClutterMainContext  *clutter_context;
+
+  clutter_threads_enter ();
+
+  clutter_context = clutter_context_get_default ();
+  backend = clutter_context->backend;
+
+  event = clutter_event_new (CLUTTER_NOTHING);
+
+  if (event_translate (backend, event, xevent))
+    {
+      /* push directly here to avoid copy of queue_put */
+      g_queue_push_head (clutter_context->events_queue, event);
+    }
+  else
+    {
+      clutter_event_free (event);
+    }
+
+  event = clutter_event_get ();
+
+  if (event)
+    {
+      /* forward the event into clutter for emission etc. */
+      clutter_do_event (event);
+      clutter_event_free (event);
+    }
+
+  clutter_threads_leave ();
+
+  return CLUTTER_X11_FILTER_CONTINUE;
+}
+
+/**
+ * clutter_x11_disable_event_retrieval
+ *
+ * Disables retrieval of X events in the main loop. Use to create event-less
+ * canvas or in conjunction with clutter_x11_handle_event.
+ *
+ * This function can only be called before calling clutter_init().
+ *
+ * Since: 0.8
+ */
+void
+clutter_x11_disable_event_retrieval (void)
+{
+  ClutterBackendX11      *backend;
+  ClutterMainContext  *clutter_context;
+
+  clutter_context = clutter_context_get_default ();
+  backend = CLUTTER_BACKEND_X11 (clutter_context->backend);
+
+  backend->no_xevent_retrieval = TRUE;
+}
+
+
 static gboolean
 clutter_event_prepare (GSource *source,
                        gint    *timeout)
diff --git a/clutter/x11/clutter-x11.h b/clutter/x11/clutter-x11.h
index 996c0a79a..28a5e5a0b 100644
--- a/clutter/x11/clutter-x11.h
+++ b/clutter/x11/clutter-x11.h
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ typedef enum {
  *
  * Since: 0.6
  */
-typedef ClutterX11FilterReturn (*ClutterX11FilterFunc) (XEvent        *xev, 
+typedef ClutterX11FilterReturn (*ClutterX11FilterFunc) (XEvent        *xev,
                                                         ClutterEvent  *cev,
                                                         gpointer       data);
 
@@ -94,9 +94,13 @@ gboolean     clutter_x11_set_stage_foreign (ClutterStage *stage,
 
 void         clutter_x11_add_filter    (ClutterX11FilterFunc func,
                                         gpointer             data);
-void         clutter_x11_remove_filter (ClutterX11FilterFunc func, 
+void         clutter_x11_remove_filter (ClutterX11FilterFunc func,
                                         gpointer             data);
 
+ClutterX11FilterReturn clutter_x11_handle_event (XEvent *xevent);
+
+void         clutter_x11_disable_event_retrieval (void);
+
 G_END_DECLS
 
 #endif /* __CLUTTER_X11_H__ */