5 2 10 (five duets, two solos, ten instruments) is the new work from contemporary dance choreographer Fin Walker and composer Ben Park's Walker Dance Park Music -- an associate company of the Royal Opera House. The work promises to take you on a journey through the "landmines" of human emotions. Five duets and two solos -- danced by Catherine Bennett, Lee Clayden, Jason Keenan-Smith and Jenny Tattersall -- are infused with the colours and energies of the body's seven chakras, concerned in turn with survival, intuition, social identity, transformation, independence, reflection and perfection. Park's earthy composition is played live by musicians Stephen Gibson, Connie Tanner and Park himself. This run at the Linbury marks the end of their tour during which the company has collected very good reviews. Until the mystery of this piece is unveiled for you on stage why not practice a mouse dance using the company's interactive site!

ATP can generally be relied upon to bring a selection of musical delicacies to suit the most adventurous palette. The enigmatic Jackie-O Motherfucker has acquired a diverse and faithful collective of musicians since its conception more than a decade ago. While there is no such thing as an "underground" scene in this day and age, JOMF manages to keep a low profile while still producing an innovative sound, balancing layers of sounds and samples to create a slightly folky drone sound with a razor sharp edge. Vaguely reminiscent of Godspeed You! Black Emperor's Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven, JOMF's most recent albums, Flags Of The Sacred Harp and The Grave, bring together the My Bloody Valentine wall of sound layering of guitar tracks (and sax) with precise timing and a smooth lyrical style. JOMF's unique improvisational on-stage format -- along with their ever-changing line-up -- promise a first-class performance. Alexander Tucker, prolific artist / musician and sometime member of the JOMF collective, will also be playing a solo set at Cargo this Thursday.

There's one particular film genre that homegrown directors always excel at and that's documenting the scabby underbelly of our cities and, thanks to the acuity of director Paul Andrew Williams, captivates just like receiving a punch square in the face and gazing in slow motion as the first trickle of blood hits the floor. The story revolves around a wizened prostitute (Lorraine Stanley), a young homeless girl about to be sold for sex, a stubbly psychotic pimp, someone who watched Gangster No 1 too closely and a vicious bloody scene in a bedroom that leads to all sorts of complications. But really it's a chance to see real English acting talent polished up by the remarkable visual stare of Williams who is definitely the real talent here. A trip to the Barbican to listen to him explain his actions should be a diary-clearing must-see.

NB: London To Brighton is released on 01/12. If you cannot make it to this Q&A then catch Paul Andrew Williams this Saturday (6:30pm) at the Curzon Soho.

As the threat of global terrorism looms larger than ever before in the UK, it's vital for people to ask questions. Why are British-born Muslims turning against their home country, whose liberal values encourage tolerance? What led to the atrocities of 7/7? How can we reach a new understanding of Islam and Muslim culture and achieve better integration? In his new book, Rethinking Islamism, Lord Desai argues for a reassessment of such views. To find answers to such outrages in the fight against the terrorism, it is essential to understand the distinction between the political ideology of Islamism and the religion of Islam. This ideology is the driving force behind the recruitment of young Muslims, who are willing to commit acts of violence, which may cause suffering across cultures. Desai explores the nature of the ideology in contrast to modern beliefs: he places Osama Bin Laden's Global Islamism in the context of the lives of Muslims in Arabia and asks how we can counter such ideology through dialogues with fights against anarchism, communism and fascism. Desai is a theorist of political philosophy and Professor Emeritus at the London School of Economics.

Offbeat, disturbing, provocative, perverse -- the films of Marco Ferreri never seem to come adjective-free. A unique, unclassifiable director who described himself as a "comic anarchist", during the peak of his career in the '60s and '70s his sharply satirical works starred some of the best actors of the time -- Catherine Deneuve, Philippe Noiret, Roberto Benigni, a young Gerard Depardieu and regular collaborators Marcello Mastroianni and Ugo Tognazzi. Best known for his 1973 film La grande bouffe (usually described as "the scandalous / notorious / shocking La grande bouffe"), a humorous and vulgar story of four middle-aged men who decide to gorge themselves to death on gourmet food and sex during an epic weekend of excess, his films also fearlessly tackled topics such as marriage (L'Ape regina), feminism (Ciao Maschio) and incest (La Storia di Piera) in his quest to challenge middle class mores. Although non-conformist in his approach, he nonetheless was popular with audiences and critics alike, winning prizes at Cannes and Berlin throughout the '70s, and this is an excellent opportunity to see these seldom screened titbits of cult Italian cinema.

NB: the Marco Ferreri retrospective runs from 01/12 till 14/12.

In May 2004 Throbbing Gristle played a one off matinee at the London Astoria to 1,500 fans. This was to be their first show in 25 years; luckily the event was filmed. Reunion gigs can be disappointing, financially motivated affairs, but this show proved to be quite special. Ahead of their time in many ways, TG were more than the sum of their parts, the band itself only serving as a front for further adventures in performance art. Dark overlords of the squatting scene from the early '70s, their headquarters -- the Death Factory -- was close to local hero Robin Klassnik's original Matt's Gallery site. The roots of the east London art scene today has much to do with these individuals. Fittingly, the Whitechapel Art Gallery is hosting the premiere of Phillips Richardson's film of the concert many of us missed.

NB: the film is being screened at both 7pm and 9pm.

There seems to be a thug of bands at the moment, pumping out three minute songs with their feet concreted to the floor, their eyes fixed on their guitar strings, and rarely breaking a sweat. Where's the show in that? KultureFlash thinks they should all go to the ICA to see seminal Welsh record label Ankstmusik premiere their new film of mad German geniuses, Faust, performing in 1996 at The Garage. Highlights from this legendary performance include a sculptress welding throughout the gig, showering sparks over the audience and the band; a threshing machine pumping out dead leaves over the audience; oil drums and a concrete mixer forming part of the percussion set up; and French bassist Jean-Herve Peron stripping off and attacking a bunch of white album sleeves with a paint roller. After the film, Peron will be hosting a Q&A session with Andy Wilson, author of the recently released book, Faust: Stretch Out Time 1970-75. Another reason (if you need another?) to go along is to hear the DJs from Kosmische, the world's only Krautrock disco, who have promised to play tracks from Faust's new album, due to be released next year.

NB: on 03/12 (7pm - 2am) make sure catch Faust as they perform live at Corsica Studios (part of Elfest 2006).

Every nation has its own particular "flavour" of contemporary art, and each leaves its mark on the world view in a distinct and particular way. Swiss Video at Tate Modern is comprised of a selection of artworks and artists from the origins of the media to the present day, from the whimsical and weird (Pipilotti Rist, Olaf Breuning), to the slick and serious (Christoph Draeger, Shahryar Nashat), to the experimental theoretical stalwarts (Rene Bauermeister, Jean Otth) we have come to take for granted since the birth of the media. The programme runs over three days, beginning on Friday with the early days of video art -- a re-introduction to the roots of the relationship between artist, viewer and screen. Saturday's event delves into the personal and interpersonal issues induced by the saturation of video into daily life. Touching on communication and gender roles, this programme examines the evolution of the political language of video. Sunday's line-up will focus more on the "young and emerging" Swiss video scene, including Vittorio Santoro, Vidya Gastaldon and Emanuelle Antille. All three events compose a sort of chronological cross-section of Swiss video through the last five decades, and provide insight into the current contemporary climate and the road that led us here.

NB: Swiss Video runs for three days on 01/12, 02/12 and 03/12.

Unlike the supermarkets who start to deck the aisles with boughs of holly around the time the football season kicks off, club promoters at least have the decency to wait till December before wheeling out their festive specials. But it's finally time and getting in their yuletide party early are one of the noisiest parties on the block, Overkill. Back from their European tour, expect little in the way of peace and goodwill and plenty of gabba, noise and full on rave mayhem as they take over Elephant and Castle's Corsica Studios. In the Littlebig room, the likes of Otto Von Schirach, Soundmurderer, Tim Exile and Trencher will be on hand to splice dangerously high BPMs with discordant noise, whilst providing no respite in the second room the charmingly named likes of Shitmat, Ebola and Kill Ill will be representing Brighton's Wrong Music crew.

For his first solo show in the UK Pierre Ardouvin has created an enchanted and eerie abandoned chateau at Museum 52. The darkened gallery space is faintly lit by chandeliers placed on the floor surrounded by scattered jewellery that crunches underfoot. A soundtrack of whispering voices, echoing taps and shuffling noises rise from the darkness of the gallery. At the very back of the exhibition is a gilt framed mirror mounted on a wall, slowly rotating. The installation gives the impression of an abandoned party and certainly makes the viewer consider the absent guests and other missing props. Ardouvin's choice of cheap plastic jewellery and black plastic chandeliers with flickering electric flames challenges any straightforward representation of the bourgeois. At the back of the gallery he confronts his viewer with their reflection and places them in the detached aftermath he has created.

NB: runs till 14/01/07.

Dripping from the wall or blooming from the concrete floor, Ricky Swallow's current show -- Long Time Gone -- is comprised of carefully carved wooden sculptures that exude a quiet gravity in Modern Art's back gallery. There is a particular delicacy and detail to each sculpture, making it pleasing to discover that they are hewn from different types of wood and not cast in fibreglass. The subtle yellows of limewood, pearwood and hardwood jutalong lend the works a curious plasticy quality, and indeed the layers appear to have been pealed effortlessly away like plasticine. Swallow doesn't miss a trick: the raised veins of a single outstretched arm, the laces of a Converse trainer stuck in the branches of a tree, the craggy barnacles adhered to an empty scull; all are meticulously rendered by Swallow's carving. Like the arm hanging from the wall in Unbroken Ways (for Derek Bailey), the works in Long Time Gone are reminiscent of various bodily parts that somehow got left behind, crystallised in wood just at the point of departure. But, as we are reminded by the bulbous barnacles bursting from the skull and the note pinned to the pinkish wooden heart, life quite often finds a way of creeping back if we wait long enough.

NB: runs till 21/12.

Virginia Woolf's literary experiment The Waves is six streams of consciousness that interweave and collect into a single train of narrative. It would seem unstageable, but director Katie Mitchell is a fastidious experimenter herself (rare in that being supported by major theatrical institutions). Following her earlier takes on A Dream Play and The Seagull at the NT, she now dives into Waves, transforming it as a live staging into film. An exemplary acting company use video cameras to shoot each other and a gallery of objects into a montage of images that stream onto a central projection, accompanied by live, Foley-type sound effects. Cerebrally, this take is hard to fault -- the screen becoming the mind's eye for the audience pulling together different streams while the actors scurry through the construction of momentary mise-en-scene on the periphery, even combining different performers into the same character over the course of the piece. A nagging doubt remains that the theatrical implications of this performance form remain unexamined (the only feeling of interaction seeping in when punctured by odd technical difficulties). But still, it's a fascinating, technically astounding, and surprisingly engaging experience.

NB: runs till 08/02/07.

We first came across the work of Dr John Snow in an elegantly titled book Envisioning Information by Edward R Tufte. Tufte elucidates the maps Snow made of the 1854 cholera epidemic that were central to proving his hypothesis about the spread of the disease and that brought about a complete change in strategy for fighting the epidemic. Tufte calls Snow's work "classic medical detection, with an eloquent and precise language of evidence, number and comparison" and there can be no doubt as to its compelling nature. Historical examples of rigorous analysis and problem solving are ripe for re-examination today, where hyperbole has become a serious problem even in scientific communities. It will be revealing to see if pop-science author Steven Johnson can bring any new insight to the debate on this much admired figure and interesting to find out why Brian Eno has been enlisted to host the talk.

The T Bar in Shoreditch has steadily built up a reputation as the best place to get wonky in east London. This is due in part to its cavernous warehouse layout and extensive drinks list, but is mostly down to the fact that no matter which day you frequent the T Bar there is always a top notch line-up of DJs and live acts. This Monday night demonstrates the T Bar ethos perfectly! Not only is Crosstown Rebels label boss Damian Lazarus joining Luke Solomon from Music For Freaks on the decks for some filthy jacking electro house bizniz, but Audion (aka Matthew Dear) is also dropping in to play a live set. Dear has over the last few years garnered praise from all corners for his deep, melodic techno sound and is responsible for one of our favourite mix CDs from 2006 in the shape of the Fabric 27. All this for free! So extend the weekend by one day, tape EastEnders and get yourself down to the T Bar!

Sex in the cinema is a de rigueur part of our lives, so the average audience member should be fine with the opening scene of a man fellating himself to completion, a graphic orgy featuring transvestites, gerontophiles, straight and gay participants, and finally a man singing the American national anthem into another man's ass. What's strange about John Cameron Mitchell's (Hedwig And The Angry Inch) outrageously funny look at the sex lives of a group of New Yorkers is that the censor baiting doesn't even register as taboo breaking. It's far wittier than any mainstream offering and by not squirming away from the psychological minefields of consensual sex its controversial scenes slip seamlessly into the narrative. In fact, the moment you become anesthetised to erect penises sliding in everywhere is when the story deliquesces around two couples and the poignant, touching finale that superannuates sex for the much more powerful emotion of love. Don't be afraid to take a date along. It's not 9 Songs.

NB: Shortbus is released in London on 01/12. Another film of note released on the same day is London To Brighton.

Would that all birthday parties could last a year. Hats off to the Royal Court, which has been going hell for leather with its 50th anniversary celebrations. Just before the whistle's blown at the end of the month, there's a special Sunday opening which celebrates its celluloid links. There are screenings both of filmed performances of plays (including Harold Pinter in Krapp's Last Tape, which sold out in 17 minutes earlier this year), as well as those films adapted from plays first staged at the Royal Court (including Tony Richardson's Look Back In Anger -- written by John Osborne). The highlight surely though is the panel discussion, with talents who have made an impact at the theatre and gone on to make their mark in film. The impressive roll call of creative luminaries includes Stephen Daldry (formerly artistic director of the theatre, who went on to direct the films Billy Elliot and The Hours), TV and film director Antonia Bird, who launched her career at the Royal Court, and playwrights Joe Penhall and Christopher Hampton, who have both written scripts for critically acclaimed films (Enduring Love and Dangerous Liaisons respectively). Should be something of a thespian love in. Boycott Xmas shopping and go.

NB: the panel discussion takes place at 6:15pm and is free but you have to purchase a ticket for one of the films.

Brighton's Natasha Khan -- who is Bat For Lashes -- spent her childhood in both England and Pakistan and as a musician seems to drink from both wells -- evincing both cut glass accented refinement and colourful exotica in equal measure. Her Fur & Gold debut album (Echo) caused major critical stirrings back in the summer, with Bjork, Siouxsie Sioux and Kate Bush being the most regularly trotted out comparisons. Of course, it's almost too easy to use the Bjork touchstone in connection with any mildly kooky female singer-songwriter, but in Khan's case it's justified (Batty For Lashes anyone?) -- her grab bag of strings, Casio electronics and autoharps supporting a sensual, acrobatic voice that would sound more at home in Reykjavik than East Sussex. As with Bjork, Khan's live show is heavy on the visuals, with the musicians decked out in ostentatious headgear and full glitter make up -- all of which chimes perfectly with eccentric songs about bats, wizards and the wonders of an early evening bath.

NB: support from Josh T Pearson and Johnny Flynn.

Starring his daughter Angelica and scripted by his son Tony, John Huston's final film The Dead is an adaptation from a story in James Joyce's Dubliners. Angelica is Gretta Conroy, a guest at a Christmas dinner held in Dublin at the turn of the century. The party itself follows all the usual turns that such occasions require, with singing of traditional songs, dancing and the regaling of oft repeated stories. It is the revelation of Gretta's reaction to one such song that creates the lasting beauty of this film, as she confesses a past memory to her husband Gabriel (Donal McCann). In celebration of this film and the John Huston Season running at the NFT, Academy award winner Angelica Huston will be interviewed by The Guardian. The actress has built an impressive and varied career, starring in such successful and interesting films as The Grifters, The Royal Tenenbaums and family films The Addams Family and The Witches amongst countless others.

NB: a new print of The Dead screens at the NFT from 01/12 till 14/12 and the John Huston Season runs till 30/12.

Whether ignoring the given exhibition space or directly referencing the idols of art history, Tue Greenfort's projects sit somewhere between a social-ecological critique of contemporary life and the re-evaluation of art production and dissemination. By investigating everyday events and reducing the macro to the micro, Greenfort takes on a history of environmental and conceptual art and is able to reveal the structures behind urbanity; discovering and revealing those occurrences that go unseen or are ignored. The throng of London's Bond Street is a haven of shamelessly enjoyed trade and consumption and as Greenfort's first UK show demonstrates, to anyone worried, neo-liberalism suggests that it is OK to enjoy a bit of indulgence now and again. The space of the gallery is activated with work such as Fur No Fur (2006), where the artist takes on our day-to-day assumptions to reveal, in this seeming seclusion from the urban environment, the social and ecological effect of political trade and the complex relationships between the microcosm of this London street and wider international culture.

NB: runs till 13/01/07. (Tue Greenfort has been commissioned to work with the RSA (Art & Ecology programme -- will open in 2007).

Acknowledged as the first "experimental" art space in London, Indica Gallery was open to the public for two years from November 1965 at the site of the new White Cube in Mason's Yard, Mayfair. Famously remembered for its technicians (Paul McCartney with the hammer and nails, and Marc Bolan with the paint brush) and as the place where John and Yoko first met, Indica was a gallery showing unseen, emerging artists and a hangout for London's glitterati. Forty years later, and the gallery set up by Marianne Faithfull's first husband, John Dunbar, and author Barry Miles is re-appearing at Riflemaker. Dunbar has put together a show of work from each of the original Indica artists, including Yoko Ono and Gustav Metzger, alongside a Riflemaker selection of young artists, such as Conrad Shawcross and painter Jaime Gill. Miles has taken care of everything counter-cultural, and there is a programmed series of events and talks during the exhibition that will be keeping us all at KultureFlash busy for the forthcoming months.

NB: runs till 12/02/07.

According to Jon Wozencroft, founder of Touch, Geir Jenssen (aka Norwegian ambient artist Biosphere) spent all the money that he got from the considerable sales of his Substrata album to fund an expedition to Tibet, specifically to climb Cho Oyu -- the world's sixth highest peak. Documenting this expedition in the form of a written diary and minidisc field recordings has resulted in what is possibly his best work yet. And yes, the expected sounds of wind chill are there -- a sonic reminder of the extreme nature of the environment, but also the idea of man's insignificance in such vast and isolated surroundings. The constant need to communicate is represented by the sound of local people, 2-way radio chatter or tuning into the comforting but otherworldly ether of shortwave radio. Cyclic rhythms drift in and out of the recordings and whilst they're subtle, they help retain a sense of narrative... of being in motion. Lavishly packaged and almost presented like a guidebook, the inclusion of a map suggests that you could re-create the journey yourself. The ultimate statement in audiotourism.

To buy Cho Oyu 8201m online click here.

KultureFlash is a free, weekly newsletter covering contemporary culture in and around London. Each week we track down some of the more unusual and interesting events taking place in the capital and deliver them straight to your inbox. Featuring art, gigs, films, talks, clubs and more -- we are committed to bringing you an eclectic mix of the most stimulating events in London.

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