For her first Dance Umbrella as artistic director, Betsy Gregory has brought together the finest of the dance world to London for an exceptional season. In an effort to reach a new public the festival is making greater use of smaller venues such as The Place where you will be able to see a dance film by Royston Maldoom and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle (10/10), as well as some Butoh from Japan with Ko Murobushi, and the ever fun and popular New Art Club with their Visible Men (27 and 29/10). Venturing out into south-east London, DU brings Andreja Rauch's atmospheric film and live performance to Greenwich Dance Agency (25 to 27/10).

Closing the festival, Michael Clark will present the final instalment of his Stravinsky Project I do, set to Les noces. Each evening will feature the first two pieces O and Mmm... and the company will be joined by the Britten Sinfonia and the New London Chamber Choir for a performance high in colour and emotions (31/10 to 03/11 and 03/11 to 10/11). Following almost three decades of indoor performances, Dance Umbrella takes to the street with Paul-Andre Fortier's Solo 30x30 every day for 30 days (03/10 to 01/11) on the steps of Liverpool station. Compagnie Beau Geste will be at the Jubilee Gardens, next to the London Eye (06 and 07/10) with a duet for dancer and JCB digger to the tune of Maria Callas. Need we say more!

NB: Dance Umbrella 2007 runs till 10/11.

The Hayward's major new painting show opens this week, the first exhibition curated by nearly new director Ralph Rugoff. Displaying iconic works by Andy Warhol, Richard Hamilton and Gerhard Richter alongside Luc Tuymans, Peter Doig, Marlene Dumas and Elizabeth Peyton, the exhibition will track the special relationship between photographs and painting emerging from the '60s to the present day. From Hamilton's reproductions of '60s celebrities taken from newspaper clippings, to Tuymans' painterly mimicking of cinematic techniques, employing cropping and close-ups to conceal his subjects, the show surveys what is arguably one of the most important developments of the medium in the past 50 years. Not only concerned with the literal translation of photographs into paint, the portrayal of their subject matter -- modern life as it was recorded and expounded by the media, through personal and public photographs -- will be called in to question. To mark the opening of The Painting Of Modern Life a panel discussion between four painters included in the show -- Judith Eisler, Johannes Kahrs, Johanna Kandl and Liu Xiaodong -- chaired by Rugoff will examine their work and some of the themes arising from the exhibition.

NB The Painting Of Modern Life runs till 30/12. This week, also catch two masterclasses, one with Luc Tuymans (04/10 at 6:30pm) and one with Peter Doig (05/10 at 6:30pm).

A musician, producer and owner of influential label Def Jux, El-P has (along with Sage Francis, Cannibal Ox, Aesop Rock and the Anticon collective) been a major driving force in alternative hip-hop over the last 10 years. Formerly a member of the near-legendary Company Flow, despite only releasing two albums he has come to define a very particular and sophisticated form of hip-hop. Characterised by lyrics that are at once articulate, paranoid, dystopian and surreal, his electric flow is underpinned by highly textured production demonstrating his well-documented free jazz influences. Listening to the dense sound of recent critically acclaimed album I'll Sleep When You're Dead, his second, it's no surprise that it was five years in creation. The list of contributors -- Trent Reznor, Cat Power, The Mars Volta -- to the album illustrates the esteem with which he is now held. El-P hasn't played in London for years; hence, this is a cherished opportunity for devoted fans to catch his explosive live show. For newcomers it's worth checking out to discover one of the most exciting underground artists around at the moment.

Archimedes is often attributed with possessing an extremely primitive device that could predict the movements of the sun, the moon and the planets. Nowadays our sophisticated systems are capable of picking up the slightest changes in our solar system, with London's Peter Harrison Planetarium at the Royal Observatory now the only state-of-the-art working planetarium accessible to the public. With his new album Cosmos (Leaf) just out, Mexican electronic musician Murcof will present his work in this richly resonant dome environment, expanding upon the fluid instrumental works of his catalogue, and weaving a tapestry of melancholic harmonies and mesmeric pulses. With his new recordings painting a palette of sound that unites classical instrumentation with electronics, Murcof is creating a world that joins the dots between Max Richter, Arvo Part, Oliver Messiaen and Maurice Durufle. Tilt your seat back and breathe in sounds marginally audible to the ear, sights almost invisible to the eye.

It may lie perilously close to the City and its dark hearted denizens but the T Bar in Shoreditch has made quite a name for itself over the last couple of years with a music policy interesting enough to scare off the suits and an atmosphere more redolent of Berlin than London. This Thursday, for instance, is Structure, the new night from Shelley Parker that is guaranteed to give the venue's Funktion-One soundsystem a serious working over. Joining Parker and working their way through the lower end of the sonic spectrum this week are madcap electronic misfit and Mary Anne Hobbs approved Cursor Miner, and Vent, the new bass heavy project from Colony Productions (both performing live sets). DJ duties are taken care of by Posthuman's Josh Doherty. Throw in visuals from Parker herself and make the whole thing free to get into, and you've got yourself the perfect early start to the weekend.

With Ray, Walk The Line and rumours of a Debbie Harry movie, the musical biopic is still big news. Following the trend, Anton Corbijn's Control charts the story of Joy Division's Ian Curtis, who famously committed suicide aged just 23. Having helped define the band's aesthetic through his photography and music video for "Atmosphere", Corbijn creates a sense of authenticity often lacking in films about pop culture. And yes, whilst the film has certain hallmarks of the musical biopic (an undeniably stylish cast and soundtrack), post-punk largely acts as a backdrop to the real heart of the film -- Curtis' relationship with his wife, Deborah. Based on Deborah's autobiography, the film focuses on the couple's failing marriage in the face of Curtis' fame, depression and epilepsy. With powerful performances from Samantha Morton and newcomer Sam Riley, the film refuses to mythologise, perhaps overstating the ordinariness of Curtis' life at the expense of his extraordinary talent. Shot in stark monochrome, the story itself is one of contrasts -- between suburban Macclesfield and the "republic" of Manchester, between tragedy and comedy, and, ultimately, between domestic certainty and self-destructive creativity. Corbijn's photographic skills shine throughout, with the film's bleak beauty perfectly emulating Joy Division's music -- sombre and dark, yet powerfully uplifting.

NB: Control is released in London on 05/10. Also of note is the release of Manufacturing Dissent: Uncovering Michael Moore and the ICA's Swedish Erotica Season.

The experience of colour is one of those uniquely subjective conventions that is so inextricably linked to our daily lives that we tend to take it for granted. How other people perceive the same objects we do is one of those unknowable things that determine the vast differences in the way we behave, the different ways we react to symbols and images, and the way we interact with one another. Like our olfactory senses, our responses to colour are often deep-rooted in our subconscious. A colour can trigger all manner of emotional responses. One will get our creative juices flowing, another will pick us up or calm us down. An artistic investigation into these enigmatic responses to colours and their changing circumstances involves artists David Batchelor, Olafur Eliasson, Henrik Plenge Jakobsen, Olaf Nicolai, Boris Oicherman, Israel Rosenfield, Luc Steels and Pae White, all of whom have crafted tools and techniques that might help to decipher some of the complexities that lie beyond colour theory and empirical aesthetics. The artists will present and perform with their various implements in the hope of shedding some light on the ephemeral subject of colour and the individual response.

Some time ago, the Guardian described KultureFlash as wearing its love of abstraction -- among many other things -- on its sleeve. That, dear Flashers, is spot on. Ultimately there is absolutely no defence or explanation for Larry Poons' paintings. They do not appear radical nor, as many would have it, political. Rather these paintings are as pleasurable as they are difficult to get. Sure, you could say that he is playing Monet channelling Bonnard painting a can-can, but don't be deceived, these crusty surfaced objects are full of light and mirth, but mostly grace. Originally a student of composition (music), he turned to painting and eventually became a member of Clement Greenberg's "paint-fella's" -- the anointed ones. With the fall of Greenberg, Poons' star seemed to fade; now with Jules Olitski gone, Poons is the last of those great dinosaurs. In a career spanning five decades, Poons moved from flat "op" abstractions to poured paintings and later, denser material abstractions (that eventually seemed to incorporate everything off his studio floor). Today, through the corner of our eyes, his paintings seem to fleeting depict imagery; maybe he's finally becoming de Kooning's "slippery glimpser". Even to this day, enjoying Poons seems heretic -- but he was mates with Bob Dylan and Patti Smith did describe him as "the Monet of Broadway".

NB: runs till 10/10. While in the neighbourhood for contrast make sure you stop by Hauser & Wirth and see Michael Raedecker's show (runs till 27/10).

Big beat was great, wasn't it? Actually, scratch that, it gave Norman Cook another shot at fame, which he wholly embraced after everyone had forgotten about The Housemartins and gave The Chemical Brothers carte blanche to rehash and release the same album again and again. Some people did the decent thing, got out early and moved on musically, like FC Kahuna who were a few years ahead of the whole electroclash thing (another great genre!) with tracks like "Mindset To Cycle". The soundtrack royalties must be running low because Jon Kahuna has come out of the cold and started My Disco's Better Than Your Disco, a new club night at The Luminaire in Kilburn of all places (well Shoreditch is shit these days, isn't it?) with a splendid line-up for the opening night. Any club with Paul "Phones" Epworth DJing is worth the door tax -- a masterful producer/remixer who even manages to make Interpol sound good! -- yet there is the added incentive of a live performance from Black Affair. For the uninitiated, Black Affair is the new project from ex Beta Band member Steve Mason and is a bastard mix of Egyptian Lover synths, dirty RnB and DIY electropop.

If August's welcome return of Wang saw a heavy if slightly predictable line-up, this week's affair should firmly dispel any notions that the veteran party promoters are living on past glories as they've assembled one of the most interesting electronic line-ups you'll get this month. First up and frankly more than enough on its own is Rebuild, a one off collaboration between 808 State's Graham Massey and A Guy Called Gerald. It really is hard to play down how good this should be: the two acid house pioneers haven't played together for nearly 20 years now and as the whole world seems to be getting swept up in an acid revival this should be a masterclass in how it's done properly. If that's the past taken care of the present is nicely represented by Simian Mobile Disco, one of the brightest stars of 2007's class of electro, whilst squaring the circle and bridging past and present is Lord Sabre himself, Andrew Weatherall, a man who has arguably had a hand in nearly every worthwhile dance scene of the past two decades from the heady days of the Second Summer of Love right up to today. In the immortal words of MC Crazy Clair "Top One, Nice One, Get Sorted".

Screening on 06/10 (6:30pm), the double-bill of Anita and Exposed is part of an intriguing four-day long orgy of Swedish Erotica at the ICA. Anita tells of the 16-year-old titular character (played by Sweden's top sexploitation star, Christina Lindberg -- looking like a brunette version of the moody, elfin Legolas from The Lord Of The Rings trilogy) who has had a cold, uncaring home-life and so embarks on a string of casual, debasing sexual encounters with unknown men. During one particularly bizarre encounter, with a stranger she lures to a workman's tent in the middle of a bustling city, she stumbles across Erik (a youthful Stellan Skarsgard). Erik, a young psychology student, takes Anita under his wing believing that she will only be free of her troubled behaviour once she has experienced a true orgasm. This really does encapsulate a sexually liberal society at the start of the '70s. Exposed, also stars the brooding, gamine Lindberg as Lena, a young woman torn between her apple-pie boyfriend, Jan, and an older, sadistic lover, Helge. Exposed is like an adult fairytale, with Lena a Little Red Riding Hood character lost in the wild woods of her dark desires and fevered fantasies. It's all framed by her parents going away on vacation and leaving her on her own.

NB: Christina Lindberg will appear in the flesh to lead a Q&A session after the double-bill. Don't miss it! (Swedish Erotica Season runs at the ICA from 04/10 till 07/10.)

No-one comments more elegantly on the phenomena of modern life than Alain de Botton; his gentle but scarily astute essays on the idiosyncrasies of human nature have made us all take ourselves a little less seriously. Adam Thirlwell is another literary prodigy -- he was in Granta's 2003 list of Best Young British Novelists, has published his first novel Politics to much acclaim and is about to publish a second, assistant edits Arete and still hasn't hit 30. In this forum, both brainboxes turn their gaze to their own pursuits. If writers are such original thinkers, why aren't new literary forms being invented all the time? How can writers redefine and develop their own practice, and take control of the means of production? Expect a lively, erudite and constructive banter between two of the literary world's bright young things.

NB: while at ICA make sure you catch the Enrico David exhibition (till 11/11).

Amitai Etzioni sounds like a contradictory person. Born in Germany but now an Israeli-American, the sociologist founded the communitarian movement in the early '90s. The movement is based upon protecting the rights of the individual and introducing them into the community at large. Is this a Red version of Ayn Rand? Given that he was a student of Martin Buber's and that his most recent book, Security First: For A Muscular, Moral Foreign Policy, argues that foreign policy should take the security interest of each nation first and -- hopefully -- democracy will follow, then this kind of "Randism" seems far more liberal and pragmatic. Democracy, if it ever arrives in those countries -- ie Bush's axis of evil -- will be far different than the American ideal. For him most people do not want violence, rather desire peace and social order; however their idea of society may differ greatly from that of American liberalism. Can this kind of pragmatism possibly inform American foreign policy? Perhaps the Guardian's diplomatic editor and former man in the Middle East, Julian Borger, will ask just these questions...

NB: while at ICA make sure you catch the Enrico David exhibition (till 07/11).

Observer journalist Andrew Anthony's new book, The Fall-Out: How a Guilty Liberal Lost His Innocence, sits on the same political shelf as his colleague Nick Cohen's What's Left? How Liberals Lost Their Way. A polemical memoir, Anthony explores his shifting position on the bench of the "liberal-left". He believes that freedom and equality are fundamental ideals but argues that the events of 9/11 have caused our Western, now multi-cultural, society to compromise these ideals with an emotional dynamic of guilt and grievance toward Islamic fundamentalists. He will be discussing the rise of radical Islam and its effects in the West with the literary world's veteran enfant terrible, Martin Amis, who describes himself as "anti-Islamist" and compares radical Islam with Bolshevism and Nazism. Amis also accuses the West of an inability or refusal to judge or denounce any ethnicity but its own. Last year the Observer published his controversial essay on Islam for which he was criticised for writing "more than 10,000 words without describing an individual experience of Muslim societies deeper than Christopher Hitchens' acquisition of an Osama T-shirt". This one's not to be missed.

NB: Andrew Anthony will be signing copies of The Fall-Out and Martin Amis will be signing copies of his most recent novel, House Of Meetings, after the talk.

Canonised by everyone from Rough Trade post-punk aficionados to Brian Eno and Dave Gilmour, Robert Wyatt has rightfully achieved National Treasure status. Weaned on jazz, leftwing politics and English psyche whimsy, Wyatt was a drum stool occupying lynchpin of '60s Canterbury scenesters Soft Machine and Matching Mole. His drumming days were numbered, however, and his debut solo album was recorded after he'd fallen out of a third story window during a bibulous 1973 party; he's spent the subsequent 34 years in a wheelchair. All of which has done nothing to impair his singular muse, nor his unreconstructed socialism. Always a charmingly ingenuous raconteur, Wyatt, now 62, has a young mind, recently saying of his work, "It's really about the unpredictable mischief of real life -- it's sort of chaotic our life. It's about humans and the things we turn to, and looking for fun and stimulus and meaning and stuff." This evening he takes questions from the floor and will discuss his new album Comicopera -- arguably his finest (and most accessible) album since the '70s and proof positive that venerated art rock practitioners really can improve with age.

If this is, as the accompanying text implies, a visual manifestation of John Isaacs' romantic contemplation on the state of the human soul then we are very likely a rum and unhappy lot. The bawdy bodge-it-and-scarper nature of the main cuboid element, which virtually fills the main space, is carefully contrasted with areas of painted impasto plaster detail and curiously impractical design features to pull the focus from ordinary to rather more poetic concerns. Viewer narcissism reigns, as reflected back from the mirrors in this abject sculptural entity the human face seems all the more perfect in terms of construction. Tricky to navigate, the additional grating hum of machinery inside this piece, made partially visible through a ground-level portal, works to serrate the edges of our thoughts as they manifest, as if to keep us physically present in the space. Isaacs knows that it's unlikely many of us would want to sit inside his structure under the harsh glare of an exposed bulb and muse on whether it qualifies as sculpture or architecture, provides commentary on artistic taste or urban angst, but his bare-faced dare to engage against the sensory odds is nonetheless compelling.

NB: runs till 19/10.

Using A4 copy paper, Peter Callesen creates 3D sculptures that evolve around notions of decay, destruction and human failure, drawing on mythologies, biblical stories and childhood memory. Add a strong sense of poetry, not least humour, and you will get amicable reminders of the conditions of human life. These are artworks that can be read in seconds (like a diamond skull wanting to remind us that we all have to die) but there is something clever about Callesen's work that is reminiscent of fables. In some of his works you meet angel skeletons, birds trying to escape their drawing, bloody flowers becoming insects, and ruins casting perfect shadows... The artist excels in large scale castles, stairways and porticos. All in paper. Plus years of performance work, where he would sail a paper boat (folded like "a hat") in the river till it sunk, act the reigning king of a paper castle left to collapse in the rain, or perform a Dying Swan/Ugly Duckling figure trying to have sex with an egg. There is something very persistent about these images though they speak of the eternal fragility of all living things.

NB: runs till 27/10.

Though Denmark born and taught, Jens Risom made his name in America as one of the vanguard of post-war designers who shaped the next half-century, alongside Alvar Aalto, Russel Wright, Harry Bertoia, and Charles and Ray Eames. The pieces in this collection are all artefacts from bygone eras: plaited seats made from wartime army surplus webbing, '50s Formica table tops, '70s orange and mustard chairs. But the clean lines, spare design and immaculate craftsmanship seem positively visionary. Complemented by the bold shapes and striking colours of Larry Zox's screenprints on the walls, walking round the rooms of Rocket Gallery is a pleasant and satisfying experience. Risom is quoted as saying that "good design means that anything that is good by itself will go with other things" -- and indeed each of his objects seems complete and self-sufficient. In these days of MDF and disposable furniture, each manifestation of Risom's aesthetic is a joy to behold. All the pieces are for sale.

NB: runs till 03/11.

Using an amalgam of organic and man made materials, Eva Rothschild has been combining formal experiment with social comment for over a decade. Her latest show at the South London Gallery, with a group of new sculptures and wall-based works, is an obvious continuation of her formal research. Tortuous shapes, at once geometric and oddly primal, give the impression of resting uneasily on delicate four legged stands. Mostly stark and foreboding, these works contrast sharply with the woven fluorescent paper wall-based works. Yet, their shamanistic imagery of hand prints reminiscent of the Lascaux cave paintings and psychedelic watchful eyes ties in beautifully with the sculptural works to convey the impression of a coherent and affecting installation that left us thinking that, had sculptress Eva Hesse been a witch, this is what her work would have looked like.

NB: runs till 04/11. On 01/11 (7pm) catch Eva Rothschild in conversation with SLG's director Margot Heller.

Good old Robert Wyatt. As dependable as a grandfather clock but possessed of an indomitably youthful spirit, he's one of the few '60s-vintage musicians who's still capable of eclipsing his former glories. Anachronistic in the best sense, Comicopera is arguably Wyatt's finest album since his 1974 solo debut, Rock Bottom. Presented as a triptych, it proffers Wyatt and a shifting cast of musicians in frisky, jazz-tinged pop mode -- ratcheting down the thick keyboard signatures of 2003's Cuckooland. "Act One (Lots In Noise)" features a glorious guest vocal from Brazilian singer Monica Vasconcelos on the mordant ballad "Just As You Are", a warts-'n'-all paean to Wyatt's own uxorious partnership with co-writer Alfreda Benge. "Part 2 (The Here And Now)" boasts "A Beautiful Peace", one of the most immediately arresting songs Wyatt has yet penned, his reassuringly humble vocal delivering lyrics that effortlessly conflate quotidian British high street observation with matters geopolitical, and all with a tune you can whistle. "Part Three (Away With The Fairies)" is a slightly less successful Latin detour, with a tribute to Che Guevara sounding anachronistic for the wrong reason. Those Caveats aside, Comicopera is consistently arresting and inspiring and ultimately sounds like no-one else. Who else but Wyatt could make records that happily embrace contributions from Paul Weller and Brian Eno?

NB: catch Robert Wyatt on 15/10 (7:30pm) when he gives a talk at the Southbank Centre.

To buy Comicopera 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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