Painters and sculptors used to slag off architects as merely would-be artists. Now the tables are turned: any artist who hasn't built at least one pavilion or designed a couple of chairs has to feel inadequate. These days, the barrier between utility and pure contemplation is about as unbreachable as the Berlin Wall, and -- with a Carlo Mollino table costing as much at auction as a Picasso while the likes of Marc Newson are showing with Gagosian -- the market nods its approval. Art historian and critic Alex Coles has been attempting to explore the aesthetic Potsdamer Platz, where art and design intermingle, first with his 2005 book DesignArt (Tate Publishing), now with his new anthology Design And Art from the Whitechapel in collaboration with MIT Press, which is launching the book with the conference Dialogues In Design And Art. Coles and Whitechapel director Iwona Blazwick are joined by such notables as artist Jorge Pardo and designers Michael Marriott and Alasdhair Willis (founder of Established & Sons).

It's been over 20 years since Peter Brook's The Mahabharata -- an epic work based on an epic poem (even longer than Philip Glass' Satyagraha). Now, a new Mahabharata is to premiere at Sadler's Wells. Nitin Sawhney has created the score for this new piece of dance theatre based on the 3,000 year old Indian poem. The prolific composer has already written at least 25 film scores, and has created music for two of Akram Khan's works. Kathak-based choreography in the show is by Gauri Sharma Tripathi, choreographer for Khan. 26 dancers, singers and musicians make up the ensemble. The piece uses dance, song, spoken verse, puppetry and Sanskrit prayer; and classic Indian forms of expression are mixed with contemporary dance. In the show the story is seen through the eyes of Draupadi, a woman who defies her destiny to become wife to five brothers and who, lost in a game of dice, becomes the catalyst for the world's most terrible war. Will it be the Mahabharata expressed through classical archetypes, or Hollywood heroics?

NB: Mahabharata runs for four nights from 25/04 till 28/04. On 30/04 (8:45pm) at the BFI Southbank catch Nitin Sawney as talks to Lucy Walker about the role cinema has played in his career.

Espers are an intriguing psych-folk band featuring a trio of talents from Philadelphia -- Greg Weeks, Meg Baird and Brooke Sietinsons. Their compelling folk sound entwines a range of disparate subtle influences, primarily a slightly gothic edge due to the range of instruments they utilise. They are at once lush yet unnerving, organic and with occasional electronic dalliances, transfixing yet relaxing -- what pervades their sound is the atmospheric and hypnotic quality of their songwriting. This duality has gained Espers critical acclaim and a cult following despite only existing as a band since 2002. Touring in support of their third full length release II (released on Drag City), part of the appeal of this gig will be experiencing how the dense organic textures are brought to life in a live environment. In support are Manchester's Voice Of The Seven Woods who offer something similarly atmospheric -- their take on psych-folk incorporates acid-rock and pastoral influences. This night of understated beauty is brought to you by Eat Your Own Ears.

The third film adaptation of Somerset Maugham's mighty novel, this is a supremely adult concern. It is a movie that deals with matters that are best understood by those who have, most definitely, been around the block. Originally made in 1934 (Greta Garbo and Herbert Marshall) it is above all a thoroughly engrossing romantic drama that, set in the '20s, tells the story of Kitty Fane (Naomi Watts), a flippant English woman who yearns for aesthetic stimulation and romance. In a moment of haste, she accepts an offer of marriage from Walter Fane (Ed Norton), an excruciatingly dull and eminently frosty biologist. They move to Shanghai. Bored to tears in a loveless marriage, she soon finds distraction in the arms of slime bag diplomat (Liev Schreiber) and is, of course, found out. And that is just the half of it. Beautifully shot on location in China and directed with a master's touch by John Curran (We Don't Live Here Anymore) this perfectly formed picture is a rare treat for those who like to leave the cinema thinking and a bore for those who don't. Immensely well observed and remarkably perceptive, it is an apt reflection of Maugham's prose.

NB: The Painted Veil is released in London on 27/04. Other films of note released on the same day are This Is England and Away From Her.

Bloggers-turned-promoters Styleslut bring the ghettochav ethic back into town again, demanding big chains and everything baggy or no entry. It's a rebuff to Michael Eavis and Glastonbury, albeit less offensive than Conor Oberst's drunken amnesia -- they're wheeling out Wiley for a rare live appearance. Dizzee Rascal's former crewmate says he's taking a long, Jay-Z-esque view of the industry so if you've realised that grime isn't what's decorating the portaloos in Shropshire, get yourself a fix before he disappears off to promote one of his new teenagers. Youthful New Cross local Afrikan Boy is still spinning from the popularity of the shoplifter anthem "One Day I Went To Lidl" and will be using his five finger discount to full effect alongside Wiley. Kitsune prodigies Punks Jump Up can do chains and ski goggles like the grime kids, so they say. Joe and David's guitar hooks and beats are just starting to get some well deserved recognition -- their recent turn at Modular's weekly night was a wobbly electro treat and this should be no different. Bloggers Skull Juice and the effervescent Tapedeck should have plenty in that department too.

It wouldn't exactly be outrageous to say that most minimal techno sounds better on drugs, in a dark sweaty club and at some godforsaken hour of the night than when you're pottering around the kitchen fixing brunch. But when a track can muddle your head in those less than ideal surroundings then you know you're dealing with something a little special. Thomas Schumacher's recent dub of The Knife's "Like A Pen" is just such a track, a throbbing hypnotic pulse of mindbending narco-house that has been wrecking heads in all the best clubs (and kitchens) over the past six months and should guarantee a healthy crowd down at The Key this weekend when the German producer makes a rare visit to this city. If that's not enough then the rest of the line-up's not too shabby either with The End's Mr C, former Radio Slave, Serge Santiago and Minus and Circo Loco resident Matt John all on hand to spin heads and records alike.

Clubbing behemoth Fabric has such a consistent booking policy that it's sometimes difficult to get truly excited by their weekend line-ups, but this Saturday's array of talent with a decidedly German flavour did cause our heart to skip a beat. Kompakt Records big cheese Michael Mayer headlines and is no stranger to Fabric, having featured in their mix series. Kompakt are enjoying something of a hot streak right now, with the crossover appeal of "Beautiful Life" by Gui Boratto and From Here We Go Sublime by The Field (who incidentally plays live for the first time in London at Plastic People on 02/05) offering up the enticing prospect of a respected underground German techno label having a certified summer anthem on their hands. There's a dustup in room three between Versatile Records and Sonar Kollectiv with Chateau Flight and Ame squaring up on the decks. Add to this, live performances from Gabriel Ananda and Joris Voorn -- both of whom rarely grace London with their musical presence -- and you have the potential for a splendid night of dancing.

For many, challenging social mores consists of going out tagging or possibly starting an impromptu fight club after a late night screening of The Matrix or a night on the crawl. For the more cerebral, the editorial section of The Times may prove an acceptable outlet, or a holiday to the Baltics. The "suicide-pact-mini-break" is perhaps a less popular option. Maybe it's a French thing. Regardless, Marco Ferreri's classic, surreal, black-satire La Grande Bouffe, is a twisted treat of a flick for anyone who has been too long watching society from the sidelines. If you can imagine a Withnail and I type scenario, involving middle aged continental gourmands, group sex, fabulous food and a carnal death cult, you are probably in the right mood. Or well on your way at the very least. So, if on a Sunday morning, you wake up bright and early and decide that this is just the thing to round off your weekend or ward off your hangover, the ICA will be screening La Grande Bouffe (think brunch) as the first in a series of films about the use and abuse of the human psyche. And food, among other things.

NB: this event has been organised by The Institute Of Psychoanalysis. For more information and tickets call 020.7563.5017 or send an email to ann.glynn@iopa.org.uk. Films of note released this week in London are This Is England, Away From Her and The Painted Veil.

Dashing WWII Brit bomber pilot Peter Carter (legendary celluloid sophisticate David Niven) is trapped in his badly damaged plane as it hurtles towards certain doom. Managing to get in touch with the beautiful June (Kim Hunter), an American radio operator stationed in England, he strikes up a flirtatious, tender conversation in the last few minutes before he's forced to jump from the plane -- minus a parachute. Miraculously, he cheats death, but the afterlife is having none of it. Realising its mistake, the other world dispatches one of its angels, Conductor 71 (Marius Goring), to collect Peter. What ensues is a gorgeous, outrageous fantasy with Peter's fate played out in a heavenly courtroom. The outcome hinges on the power of love to win the day. This dazzling film of visionary satire and postwar politics, tinged with English Romanticism, comes from the writer-director-producer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (whose grandson is long-time Danny Boyle producer Andrew MacDonald). It started life as an exercise to improve Anglo-American relations -- the British public, having endured years of bombing and rationing, were naturally hostile towards American servicemen, late to enter the war, and "overpaid, oversexed and over here".

NB: an introduction by writer and film expert Ian Hadyn Smith will set the scene for this Everyman Screen Salon (from 03/05 till 21/06 catch Kneehigh Theatre's adaptation of the film at the NT). Films of note released this week in London are This Is England, Away From Her and The Painted Veil.

John Maeda believes in the art of simple living. One of the world's foremost digital artists, he has evolved a philosophy of humanising technology that invites us to take a step back from our cybernetic environment. A professor at the MIT Media Lab, he has recently published a book on "simplicity" and garnered international acclaim with exhibitions at the Fondation Cartier in Paris, MoMA in New York and Ginza Graphics in Tokyo. Now, in his first UK solo exhibition in London, he explores new ways to engage with our hi-tech, sometimes passive digital landscape: he creates a round-the-clock, MySpace environment; he looks at downsizing instead of downloading; he moves forward with analogue; he explores how to be "green digital"; he makes tiny computers for tiny hands and even suggests we turn off the information highway full stop. A highlight includes a real-time stream to the US the night of the private view, where Maeda will interact with visitors through pods and screens, followed by daily beams from the MIT. With such innovative work, it's no wonder that Maeda has been named by Esquire magazine as one of the 21 most important people for the 21st century.

Talk
On 02/05 (7:15pm) catch John Maeda when he gives a talk at the Design Museum.

NB: his Riflemaker show runs till 23/06.

Not since the classic period of New German Cinema in the '70s (Fassbinder, Wenders and Herzog) has there emerged an equally strong group of young German filmmakers as those in the past few years. And despite being relatively new directors, their films are not just rough-and-ready debut works but assured, high quality dramatic pieces: the brilliant The Lives Of Others is the second Oscar-winning German film in five years, while Berlin's 2004 Golden Bear was captured by Head-On. The centre of this cine-revolution is, unsurprisingly, Berlin, encompassing a group of filmmakers primarily linked by having gone to film school in the past decade. Surprisingly subtle, and less implicitly political than their earlier namesakes, this informal group concentrates on personal character studies and low-key dramas with strong scripts, focusing on contemporary life in Germany. This season brings the work of 11 of these filmmakers, together with Q&As and discussions by a number of the directors.

NB: the festival runs from 30/04 till 10/05 both at the Goethe-Institut and Cine Lumiere. Films of note released this week in London are This Is England, Away From Her and The Painted Veil.

"She lives, works, sleeps, kills and eats entirely on her own... Is this the same little Anne who now has witnesses breaking down in tears?" asks the interrogating police woman in one of the 17 fragmentary scenes that make up this much discussed, projector-heavy tech-fest at the National Theatre. Hailed as hyperactive, breathtaking and groundbreaking by some, and self indulgent, pretentious, "theatre about theatre" by others, this is your chance to hear Katie Mitchell speak first hand about the experience of creating this exceptionally ambitious production that has divided the critics and public down the middle. "When we started we didn't have any idea about what we were going to make," says Mitchell, who devised the show in collaboration with the 11 actors and vast team of technicians, building on the success of the similarly complex Waves. Is the production, as suggested by one of its nameless speakers, a howling wake for a world "in which theatre itself has died", or simply a frustrating overly-technical art installation? See the show, ask Mitchell to remove your doubts, and decide for yourself.

NB: Attempts On Her Life runs till 10/05.

Yorkshire's Leaf label is an estimable institution, still courageously proffering records from around the globe with healthy disregard for the vicissitudes of UK musical fashion. Thus, two of the label's most critically acclaimed acts on show tonight are, respectively, purveyors of woozily textured electronic neo-jazz and early music-tinted, post-glitch minimalism. Triosk, the former, is the nom-du-disc of Adrian Klumpes, Laurence Pike and Ben "Donny" Waples who hail from Sydney Australia. They once memorably described their sound as being akin to "throwing broken glass into a piano plus air conditioning units from the outside of buildings plus simultaneous doors closing". Last summer's well-turned The Headlight Serenade album actually dealt in Eno-esque ambiences, frisky drums, resonant double bass and Bill Evans-like piano figures. Colleen (aka Paris' Cecile Schott) is a more discreet prospect still. Her 2006 EP, Colleen et les Boites a Musique, was constructed entirely from the sound of processed music boxes, while her forthcoming album apparently steers even further from electronic roots with its promise of etudes for classical guitar and viola da gamba. Support at the beautifully appointed Luminaire comes from sampledelic solo artist Dave Miller, while discreet DJ-ing will be provided by that rarest of things, a UK-based Leaf act, Phelan Sheppard.

Wim Crouwel, now at the age of 79, can be truly called a design legend (and is probably one of the last living ones). Born in 1928 in Groningen (Holland), he worked as a typographer, graphic designer, type designer, teacher and curator and is one of the Netherlands' most famous designers. Nicknamed "Gridnik " for his love of grids and space travel, he is most known for his work in the late '60s through to the '80s as a partner of the legendary design studio Total Design, his exhibition and poster designs for the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and for his iconic typefaces. Being a true Modernist, Crouwel argues in favour of an objective and neutral approach to a design problem and resolves it through systems. Nevertheless the finished work ends up being aesthetically very pleasing and still looks remarkably new today, which actually made him somewhat of an permanent underground hit among young designers of the late '80s and '90s through to today. One prime example would be Peter Saville's reworking of Crouwel's New Alphabet for a Joy Division cover. Don't miss this unique opportunity to hear him discuss his design process and thinking.

NB: this event is almost sold out so buy your tickets fast.

Lee Lozano's oeuvre displays an incredibly formal diversity, running from darkly sexual charcoal drawings to large-scale canvases detailing simple geometric forms, carefully carved in paint. On display at Hauser & Wirth is Lozano's monumental, four-canvas No Title, 1969 and a selection of tiny monochrome drawings. Painted in a palette that ranges from dark red to ethereal white, the outline of a vast circle is suggested by the canvases, each describing a portion of its curve. In her paintings Lozano was interested in crystallising the physical power of geometric shapes such as cones, cylinders and wedges, and painted them with strokes that described their potential force. In No Title, the circular movement of the sphere's outline is completed in the mind of the viewer, unifying Lozano's fastidiously painted curves and the gaps of white wall in between. As Lozano explained in 1968: "In physics, all straight lines are really curved if you extend them far enough... Where else is there to go but all the way round?"

NB: runs till 05/05.

Conceived and installed with characteristic aplomb, the ICA's latest show is a must-see for all children of the '80s. Taken from the title of a fanzine produced by Jon Savage and Linder in 1978, The Secret Public: The Last Days Of The British Underground 1978 - 1988 explores a recent history of postmodernity through a cacophony of cultural media including fashion, dance, performance, photography, film and music. Placing the political next to the popular, the exhibition charts the rise of the underground during the late '70s and early '80s as it emerged in relation to a darkened scene of AIDS, Thatcherism and economic crisis. Artists, photographers, film-makers, musicians and critics all feature. Essential viewing includes a selection of films showing on the bank of monitors arranged in stock market style rows in the lower gallery, Linder's gastro-porno photomontages, and Marc Camille Chaimowicz's multi-media installation upstairs. To top it all off soundtracks by Prince, Bowie and Thin Lizzy provide extra entertainment.

NB: runs till 06/05. On 28/04 (3pm) catch frieze's associate editor Dan Fox as he discusses the exhibition.

It wouldn't be too much of an exaggeration to describe New York math-avant-rock experimentalists Battles as one of the most exciting bands at the moment. Featuring finger-tapping genius guitarist Ian Williams from cult math-rockers Don Cabellero, the band steadily developed a tangible buzz throughout 2006 with their frenetic and inspired live shows. Now having recorded their debut album, Mirrored (released on Warp on 14/05), they've ignited indie communities with their recent single "Atlas" prior to their full length release. Fusing a focused poly-rhythmic guitar assault with free form jazz rhythms and a seeming aspiration towards the impossible, it's an intense form of music that is very difficult to classify. If there's one band that's comparable with Battles at the moment, then it's the young much hyped British math-pop band Foals. They've spent the past eight months tourring incessantly around the country and, having signed to Transgressive and are about to release their debut single "Hummer", seem destined for great things. All in all, there will be few gigs this year featuring music as fresh and vital as what is on offer here.

NB: this time next week the gig will be sold out so buy your tickets fast.

Timing and location combine favourably to create an appropriate backdrop for this diverse but collectively critical group show exploring the human impact of political decision-making. While historical references to Ancient Greece and 16th-century Asia remind us that "these extraordinary times" have always existed, the central issue of "fear" (whether a real local emotion or perceived global threat) is communicated via familiar contemporary concerns such as the war on Iraq and multiculturalism. This international group of artists, including Jorge and Lucy Orta and Hamra Abbas, employ a range of media and craft techniques (film, photography, installation, carving and even carpet-making) to strip our modern political history back to its anthropological core. The social responsibility of those that disseminate information -- "the media", historians, political and religious leaders -- is clearly under question in these often poignant and sometimes darkly humorous works that ultimately implicate us all in shaping the future.

NB: runs till 18/05. Jorge and Lucy Orta have also done the design for Fallujah which is performed at The Old Truman Brewery from 01/05 till 02/06.

Ugly Betty and The Devil Wears Prada have reminded us -- as if we ever forgot -- that fashion is a vicious, dog-eat-dog industry, a freak show of hungry, hormonal, OCD types, waiting to claw you in the back at the slightest opportunity. Likewise, fashion photography, in its unhealthy obsession with sado-masochistic imagery, seems to have changed little since the sexist days of the '60s film Blow-Up. But a more whimsical and thoughtful side to fashion does exist, which thankfully fashion illustrators have continued to explore. From surprisingly delicate contributions by psycho-potter Grayson Perry to the latest graduates from top fashion colleges, this exhibition and book confirm that illustration refuses to be elbowed out by photography, and that it continues to produce some of the most iconic images of fashion history. Drawings and paintings allow for more respectful, more human gaze at models, while other images eschew models altogether, allowing clothes a life of their own, free from current obsessions with size zero victims and celebrity endorsements. A must for those who mourn the days when fashion meant dignity, not a scrum at Primark or the next celebrity collection at H&M.

NB: runs till 26/05. This exhibition has been programmed in conjunction with the publication of 100 Years Of Fashion Illustration (Laurence King).

Calgary raised, Toronto resident Leslie Feist has been many things -- punk rock belter with (the Canadian band) Placebo, roommate and soul mate of the drolly outrageous Peaches, and guest vocalist with everyone from Broken Social Scene to Nouvelle Vague. While compiling this entertaining if somewhat scattershot resume, she's managed to carve out a rather clandestine solo career. The Reminder, her third longplayer -- already a smash with bloggers and myspacers -- looks set to change things around. Recorded, mostly live without headphones, in a rented house outside Paris, with a large retinue of strolling players, it's an album of elusive style, with a sound Feist calls "lo-fi, low brow". Certainly standout track "My Moon Man" is in a genre of its own (one which we suppose we are forced to call "feisty") -- it seems to have stolen a piano bass line from Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" but is otherwise indebted to no one, save perhaps Karen Dalton whose warm, smoky and thoroughly lived in voice Feist's own bewitching pipes most closely resemble. Elsewhere, "1234" is a beguiling mixture of playful country ramble and Bacharach pop, while the traditional "Sea Lion Woman" becomes a frenzied fiesta sing-along and everywhere genres melt before Feist's charmingly eccentric muse.

To buy The Reminder online click here.

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