We'd like to be able to recommend the inimitable Shunt Lounge every week, but unlike the Vaults, space won't permit. Curating this week is passed to Shunt's videographer Susanna Dietz and performer Serena Bobowski, who each also present new work: Dietz working with CCTV mechanisms and Bobowski... with herself, lip-syncing to a mischievously edited recording of her meandering chat made by Anthony Hampton without her consent. Beth Kurkjian and Berta Errando -- from New York and Barcelona respectively -- also perform solos (Kurkjian having just played at the ICA), while down the long corridor there's an interactive and delicately fetishistic (in the non-rubber sense) installation by stylist Emma McFarlane and award-winning photojournalist Leonie Purchas. Exquisite and often vintage items of clothing hang above the sawn-in-half sofa you sit on, forcing the participant into awkward poses as you reach to try them on. Photographs of these poses reappear in arches further down the tunnel. And lastly, eagerly awaited for over two years, is the premiere of Silvia Mercuriali and Matt Rudkin's 60 minute film The Origins Of The Routemaster, starring an all-singing, desperate cast of 18 plastic toys.

NB: runs every night from 30/05 till 01/06.

Whether an effect of the evolution of human beings into comparatively civilised animals, or an affectation of our movement away from community living in favour of larger social infrastructures, the passage from youth into adulthood in the West today lacks the affirmative finality prescribed to it in other developing cultures, or indeed in our own in centuries past. While we have adopted and manipulated many traditional inter-cultural rites of passage from tattoos to feats of extreme physical strength or bravery, the passage itself has taken on an identity separate from either childhood or maturity. The Teen-Age phenomenon is perhaps the most telling aspect of the Western character, and seems to proliferate in all areas of it. From the military to the music industry, teenagers consume material goods and ideologies alike, assimilating concepts often by rebelling against them, and becoming, in themselves, a peculiar object of worship in the circumscribing populace. Jon Savage, author of the definitive punk document England's Dreaming, will be speaking about his new book Teenage: The Creation Of Youth 1875 - 1945 and the effects of both World Wars (among other environmental catalysts) and the lead up to the separation and progression of the Teen Age institution.

Hyperbole is an easy trap for writers to fall into. Stuck between the rock and a hard place that are deadlines and press releases it's all too easy to breathlessly describe every party as a cross between Shoom and the last days of the Weimar Republic. Which is why it's so refreshing to come across something that truly is worthy of every extravagant piece of praise you can heap on it. Lucha Britannia is such a night. Held in the gloriously out of time Bethnal Green Workingmen's Club, it throws together vintage rock 'n' roll DJs, cabaret and fetish performers, and most importantly the masked Luchadors of Mexican wrestling; the whole thing has the surreal air of an episode of Hi-de-Hi! as directed by Derek Jarman. You'll be hard pressed to find a more unique night in London at the moment. In fact, it's so good you can't help thinking there'll be a law passed to ban it soon. The wrestling is genuinely impressive and will have you wincing with every drop, throw and blow, while the burlesque acts are a lot better than the usual dross and even the crowd do their part, all dressed up to the nines and providing a pantomime chorus to the evening's attractions. Dress up, get down and revel in the madness.

The flames around CSS' explosion onto the London beats-with-guitars scene proved pretty hungry, and Lovefoxxx's solo effort is going to have to have some serious sting if the leaders of the Brazilian invasion aren't to be labelled a one trick pony. However, their one-time support band Bonde do Role have been slow burners, despite making many a blogger itch with excitement. That is, until a recent performance at the Spitz gave their youthful exuberance a new audience, beyond those purely enjoying the glib irreverence of bastardised '80s hooks, and landing them centre stage amongst people who enjoy seeing art school rockers sweat. Someone who found the unpretentious cocktail of jagged samples and baile funk beats pretty inebriating was Diplo, who promptly made them the first signing to his Mad Decent label. He's no cherry-picking fader-pusher, though: the genre-crushing former tour mate of hip hop pioneers RJD2 and Prefuse 73 is also making a rare UK appearance. The genre wingspan on the night also extends far enough to bring in hotly-tipped Vice signing The Black Lips, whose visceral, fuzzy guitar riffs and penchant for offensiveness make them appropriate rock cousins to three reckless sample junkies from Curitiba. Inhibitions on all sides are likely to be minimal.

At the beginning of Water, director Deepa Mehta's Academy Award nominated opus set in India in 1938, a grey haired Indian man wakes up an extremely young girl, her face still encased in puppy fat, her eyes full of the unsullied naivety that only infancy can allow, and asks her: "Do you remember getting married?" The girl child rubs her eyes and nods her head while the man continues: "Your husband is dead. You're a widow now." A confusing beginning for any film but what follows is a succession of events that are both bewildering and unsettling as this seven-year-old girl is then separated from her mother and marched by her father to a women-only ashram, where she is left in the charge of a gaggle of widows. Dressed in white and living in what might be described as an open prison, they beg for a living, are regarded as virtually untouchable by their neighbours and subsist in abject poverty. And what is their crime? Simply, they are widows. A beautifully shot, well acted film that is delicately handled by Mehta: this is worthy of anyone's attention.

NB: Water is released in London on 01/06. Other films of note released on the same day are Klimt, Lunacy and Ten Canoes. On 02/06 (6:10pm) at the Curzon Soho catch a special advance screening of the French thriller Tell No One followed by a Q&A with its director Guillaume Canet.

The name Peter Singer elicits just one response from animal lovers: r-e-s-p-e-c-t. He is after all the author of Animal Liberation, that inadvertent inspiration to the animal liberation movement, and thus one of our more interesting ethical philosophers. The child of Viennese Jews, born and raised in Australia, he is the current professor of bioethics at Princeton University. In his concern to save animal life -- as evidenced by his attempts to convince the UN to award "personhood" to the great apes in his Great Ape Project -- he has now turned to food, yes, those mere bits of matter to which we seem to reduce our animal brethren on a daily basis. A long-time vegetarian, Singer has turned his mind to addressing one key aspect of our daily life: the food we consume. How is it farmed? With climate change and other parts of our environment linked to the production of food, how can we change our consumption for the better? (hint: you've probably guessed, eat less meat...)

NB: for the more gourmet foodie flashers out there make sure you catch Tom Aikens chatting with Tom Parker Bowles on 05/06 (7:30pm) at Miller's Academy.

Credited with christening The Velvet Underground, since the early '60s Tony Conrad has explored the use of amplification, duration and pitch to create works with film and sound. Forming the Theater Of Eternal Music with John Cale, Angus MacLise, Marian Zazeela and La Monte Young, this "Dream Syndicate" produced music from fundamental tones that resonated inside the skull, producing oscillating hypnotic tonal trance music long before it was usurped by Ibiza partygoers. His film, The Flicker (1966), is also a key structural movie consisting of alternating black and white images that flicker when projected. For his first London show in a decade the adventurous programming of [no.signal] has also aligned this rare performance with the devotional hallucinogenic psychedelic sound of Finland's Paavoharju, the spiritual sound of soloist Islaja, and Glasgow's Richard Young, in an inspirational package that will stir, disturb and electrify in equal measure.

NB: on 03/06 (12:30 - 4pm) at the Curzon Soho catch Tony Conrad as he gives a talk before a screening of his films (including The Flicker) along with a programme of experimental Finnish films.

These guys should be performing live at Wembley Stadium, and we should be paying scalpers for tickets. You have to see it to believe it. Two Japanese dudes with colour-coded Mohicans and ska-era suits... Well, genius and geek always went hand in hand, and after five minutes watching them you'll think they are the coolest, hippest guys that ever set foot in London. They stormed onto the UK scene at Edinburgh Fringe in 2004, sold out again at the Fringe in 2005 and toured, performing in the street, in more festivals and in theatres. The list of awards since then is impressive, including the Dubble Act and Tap Water Awards at Edinburgh and Best International Act at Brighton Festival. They are absolutely the best at what they do, which is silent comedy. But -- they also do magic, they can dance, they can act, they improvise. Their slickness and skill is damn impressive. And it will leave you as speechless as the performers.

NB: runs on both 01/06 and 02/06.

Raul Ruiz, writer and grand old man of Chilean cinema, has a history of creating beautifully filmic works chronicling the lives of literary and artistic creators. Representation and discourse take precedence over narrative clarity in his experimental and poetic films, and he is not shy of taking on difficult subjects. Marcel Proust's novel Remembrance Of Things Past was considered unfilmable until Ruiz tackled it with his 1999 Time Regained -- his style and circuitous method of storytelling was perfectly tailored to the material. Linear time seems non-existent in Ruiz's films, with the story flashing back and forth and characters appearing to move from one time dimension to another. His new film Klimt -- an account of the last years of Viennese painter Gustav Klimt -- follows this tradition. Looking like a Klimt painting come alive, its kaleidoscopic images capture the emotional and artistic state that Klimt (John Malkovich) was in during his final years. Definitely one for Malkovich lovers, and those who like their films enigmatic.

NB: after the screening Raoul Ruiz will be in conversation with film critic Jonathan Romney. Klimt is released in London on 01/06. Other films of note released on the same day are Water, Lunacy and Ten Canoes. On 02/06 (6:10pm) at the Curzon Soho catch a special advance screening of the French thriller Tell No One followed by a Q&A with its director Guillaume Canet.

Helio Oiticica's exploration of the theoretical and sensual experience of colour sees a marrying of art and culture that encourages a fresh consideration of participatory art practice, with his relationship to Neo-Concrete artists such as Lygia Clark, as early as 1955, seeing the artist move his ideas into the social and environmental. Work such as Sem titulo (1956) and B02 Box Bolide 02 "Platonico" (1963) confronted the viewer with physical colour, steeped in an appreciation and contradiction of the art historical traditions of neo-plastic and minimalist art. Later, his installations such as Tropicalia (1967) continued these investigations into the structural nature of colour, while dealing also with the multi-layered and the contradictory ideals of post-war Brazilian culture. This integration of social life into the construction and determination of objects led to his own engagement with the marginalised people of Brazil. By creating an event where colour is activated by human motion, the viewer engages with the artwork, allowing for an experience where art meets politics and pleasure simultaneously. Thus a consideration of Oiticica's contribution to what is now rather idealistically considered "relational" art practice provides an opportunity for new discussion of modernist and post-modernist discourse.

NB: this symposium brings together Yve-Alain Bois, Guy Brett, Briony Fer and Susan Hiller among others. Helio Oiticica: The Body Of Colour exhibition runs at Tate Modern from 06/06 until 23/09. Oiticica's work is also on view at Alison Jacques Gallery from 06/06 till 07/07.

Right from the opening shot -- an astounding five minute tracking-shot through a seemingly infinite Chinese factory -- this multi-award winning film highlights the two facets of Canadian Edward Burtynsky's work: on the one hand what he produces is remarkable and beautiful pictures of "nature transformed through industry"; and on the other, they are issue-laden images of the effect of industry on man. The film follows Burtynsky as he chronicles where things start -- the immense mines, the weird incongruity of hand-made mass production -- and where they end up -- his incredible ship-breaking images and the unbelievable shots in the film of people hammering open individual electronic components for their metal pins. His images are the more unbelievable for being real and director Jennifer Baichwal has produced a documentary which, in an unhurried and reflective manner, doesn't expose its subject so much as put you in his place for 90 minutes.

NB: this screening will be followed by a conversation between Edward Burtynsky and Jennifer Baichwal. Also, catch a show of key photographs that are featured in the documentary at Flowers Central (till 02/06).

Atmospheric stoner rock/metal band Isis are playing as a part of the post-ATP string of gigs at KOKO this week, a tasty reminder for anyone who went and a bit of a booby prize for those who did not. Hailing from Boston and signed to Mike Patton's illustrious Ipecac label, Isis has fused the aggressive stylings of American cock rockers like Tool or Clutch with a sharp and inquisitive musical edge. Maintaining the signature schizophrenia of all Patton's projects, Isis easily oscillates between screaming thrash and hushed, melodic soundscape. On their 2006 epic In The Absence Of Truth, the exploration of diverse and unmarriable musical genres proved that the smell of success had not gone to their heads following their Tool tour, and promised more good things to come. Lead singer Aaron Turner has really come into his own, with a vocal range that spans guttural choking and growling to truly haunting song. Order into chaos, chaos into nothingness, Isis puts a unique spin on the now-traditional philosophies of rock and puts on a damn good show.

Maximal, minimal... mediumal? Whilst we desperately struggle to find new ways of describing music that bleeps and beeps in a slightly different way to last week's big thing some labels just go about the business of releasing big tune after big tune. Germany's Poker Flat easily match that description and, having supplied the aural lubricant to many a dirty night over the last few years, they are throwing one of their own. Headlining the night is the revered Guido Schneider, who with over 10 years behind the production desk has learnt more than a thing or two about working a dancefloor. Keeping him company are a whole host of home-grown talent from the likes of Zombies' Shane Watcha to up and coming types such as the Man Make Music crew and if you look lively tickets can be bought for a wallet pleasing £6.

NB: for more good techno check out Luciano, Adam Beyer, Jamie Jones and Shinedoe at Fabric (10pm - 9am) and the night before, Sud Electronic's all-nighter with both Lawrence / Sten and Juergen Junker playing live at Electrowerkz (11pm - 6am).

Any discussion on the history of techno has to touch on the role Berlin's vibrant scene has played in its development on European soil. One person who has been instrumental in shaping Berlin's rich heritage is Pete Kuschnereit. A key individual in nurturing the sound of legendary Basic Channel offshoot Chain Reaction, Kuschnereit's recordings under the guise of Substance back in the '90s have been a major influence on the minimal soundscapes of modern day techno. It's more than a bit impressive, then, that the Outlet Collective have managed to secure a debut Substance live set for their first party of 2007. Joining Substance in the urban sprawl of Hackney is a DJ set from a pivotal figure in another European electronic music scene, Italian producer Marco Passarani. Passarani's career as a DJ, producer and label boss has spanned two decades and his music, which fuses Detroit techno, Italo and electro funk, has graced such diverse labels as Peacefrog, Clone and Rephlex. Support comes from Jamie Steere, a long time associate of the Outlet Collective, and the Outlet residents, playing their usual mix-up of anything with a thump.

NB: for more good techno, albeit in a much larger setting, check out Luciano, Adam Beyer, Jamie Jones and Shinedoe at Fabric (10pm - 9am) and the night before, Sud Electronic's all-nighter with both Lawrence/Sten and Juergen Junker playing live at Electrowerkz (11pm - 6am).

With a new venue in Old Billingsgate and new management (the same team running Paris Photo) photo-london has undergone a serious image change in this, its 4th year. The focus has narrowed to contemporary photography since 1970, which gives photo-london a chance to explore the full scope of photo-based art, from video and documentary to conceptual art photography, and collaborative works between photography and other media. Pre-'70s collections have been axed, but favourites like Magnum are still there, alongside some exciting new contributors. This year's special exhibition On View celebrates six influential sets of eyes in British photography: Don McCullin, Tom Wood, Paul Graham, Simon Norfolk, Corinne Day and Julia Fullerton-Batten. What better place to celebrate British photography than Old Billingsgate Market, with its photogenic views scanning Tower and London Bridges, the South Bank and the Tower of London.

NB: photo-london runs from 31/05 till 03/06. The fair's talks programme contains some real gems. On 01/06 (2 - 4pm) Tate Modern's Vicente Todoli debates "The Evolution Of Contemporary Photography Since 1970" with Paul Graham, Jeu De Paume director Marta Gili, and photography curators of the V&A and LA County Museum respectively, Mark Haworth-Booth and Charlotte Cotton.

Curated by writer (and Programme Director of MA Curating at Goldsmiths) Andrew Renton, this ambitious group show brings together 12 artists whose practice explores the associative power of popular cultural reference. If you didn't immediately recognise the Kylie Minogue lyric title, this childlike refrain would probably take you back a few years, as do many of the playful works strung, hung and placed within this large white box. From the hidden symbolism of Dutch duo Jeroen de Rijke and Willem de Rooij's floral bouquet (the in memoriam sentiment sadly rather appropriate given that de Rijke died last year), to the obvious memory lane trip inspired by the odd trinkets in Georg Herold's Rude Museum, each work feeds off and trades upon the peculiar brand of nostalgia fostered by its neighbour. Renton's brave decision to include a design object amongst the art curios has paid off: Maarten Bass' burnt Ettore Sottsass-designed room divider presides over the space like a totemic reminder of coveted objects loved and lost.

NB: runs till 24/06.

It's no surprise that inventive filmmaker, artist and performer Miranda July is also good at writing (and making websites). July is currently promoting her debut book of short stories, No One Belongs Here More Than You, which, judging by the glowing reviews, just as successfully communicates the darkly humorous sense of contemporary alienation that characterised her first self-written and directed feature film: Me, You And Everyone We Know. Who can forget the sweet, if faecally oriented internet relationship between a curator and a seven-year-old boy? Australian 2006 Man Booker Prize shortlisted writer MJ Hyland is accompanying July on her book tour for what promises to be a funny and likely candid series of interviews. As with much of July's work, the curious home-baked website July has created to promote the book (30 pictures of marker-pen texts on a variety of "wipe clean" kitchen surfaces) will make you laugh, cringe and feel ever so slightly jealous.

Surprisingly, given its venue, the poetry series at Parasol unit has not until now made as much of the poetry/art connection as it might, but that changes tonight with a line-up that includes poets/art critics from California and London along with a young Mexican poet and blogger whose sideline fascinations include comics. Bill Berkson is something of a legend; the New York School poet (and sometime collaborator with Frank O'Hara) took Manhattan's sass west to the Bay Area where it mingled with laid-back California style to affect several generations of local talent. The poetry of Michael Glover, whose art writing graces The Independent and other London publications, has been praised by notables as different as Joseph Brodsky and John Ashbery. Ernesto Priego is the wild card here; he's said that he treats the space between lines in a poem like the gap between panels in a comic. It should be a lively evening.

Dining and dating frequently go hand-in-hand (well, before the first throes of loved-up lustre have worn off and it's all nappies and "do we have to visit your parents this weekend?"), so it's no shocker to compare the selection process etiquette of the two these days. A simple supper almost has to face the Spanish Inquisition before one can safely sample its delights: What are its origins -- local or exotic? It is (too) well travelled? Will a taste for this breed an expensive habit? Is it ethical? Is it clean? Was it a loving nurtured seedling, or was it neglected and mass-produced or, worse, was it some kind of bastard creation? How has it been prepared for life's trial and tribulations? Who does it mix with? The labyrinthine complications of selecting a tasty morsel are endless. Step in two Toms -- the alluringly surly chef Aikens and Tatler's favourite gourmet journo, Parker Bowles -- who are convening at Miller's Academy (a Hay Festival-cum-bric-a-brac boudoir located in Notting Hill) for some intellectual jousting on the subject (of food, that is, not dating -- more's the pity). With some chat, questions, drinking and dinner it sounds like a rather delicious prospect all round. Yum.

NB: for those foodie flashers out there make sure you catch Princeton University's ethical philosopher Peter Singer on 01/06 (6:45pm) at the ICA.

Cardiff seven-piece Los Campesinos! (which means "farmers!" in Spanish) have experienced the sort of rise that is the envy of thousands of young bands around the country. Formed whilst students at Cardiff University in 2006, they have in less than 18 months become a blog/word of mouth sensation, having released two limited edition singles, played with Broken Social Scene, signed to Wichita (home to Bloc Party, My Morning Jacket, Saul Williams, amongst others) and now they're celebrating the end of their finals by headlining the Scala. The cause of the excitement? Essentially, it's just honest inventive indie pop music that you can dance to. Obvious influences range from Pavement, Silver Jews and Belle and Sebastian; jaunty and twee, but with enough of an angular edge and indie rock drive to really engage. Unlike countless others who have embraced such influences, Los Campesinos! have the sort of songwriting proficiency and charisma that really stands out. This gig should be fascinating; the chance to catch a much feted outfit before they inevitably start playing much larger venues.

Cindy Sherman fans will be intrigued by this exhibition of early works from 1975, produced during her final year at university in Buffalo, New York. A Play Of Selves is a series of black and white photographic cut outs of Sherman in various characters and clinches, acting out allegories of supposedly female conditions such as "madness" and "desire". A comical male alter-ego also makes an appearance in the form of a cheesy chat-show host dressed in a cheap khaki suit and big glasses, who is cast opposite a hysterical female Sherman. Sherman's statement that "This is the only work I've done that was consciously autobiographical" makes for an interesting reading of the male protagonist, who never makes a comeback in her entire oeuvre. Although seminal, these works are lesser known than subsequent series, such as the Untitled Film Series (1977-1980) or the Disasters (1986-1989), and should be seen for their influence on things to come.

NB: runs till 14/06.

Keeping everyone well chilled this summer is the fourth Phaidon title in the Cream series, Ice Cream: Contemporary Art In Culture. This cool number predicts the stars of tomorrow's contemporary art scene, as chosen by 10 internationally renowned curators. Curatorial authorities include stalwarts such as Jens Hoffmann, whose chosen 10 includes, perhaps unsurprisingly, performance artist Tino Sehgal. Sehgal's ephemeral interventions, and his infamous rejection of photographic documentation, make for a tricky entry in the book and flag up the increasingly complex mechanisms of contemporary art and its reception. Other innovations include The Wrong Gallery, who restricted their selection to emerging artists over 60; critic and curator Olesya Turkina's spot-on-trend choice of Chinese artist Cao Fei, who is one of four artists to represent the Chinese Pavilion at Venice this year; and the appearance of home-grown artist, Phil Collins (not of the singing and dancing variety), who was nominated for last year's Turner Prize. A good alternative if you aren't heading to Europe for the four big art events (Venice, Documenta, Basel and Munster) this summer. And if you are, look out for the free ice cream being handed out.

To buy Ice Cream: Contemporary Art In Culture 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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