Two rare chances to see Pierre Boulez, one of the greatest conductors and champions of 20th century music, outside of his usual appearances with the Ensemble intercontemporain. Although some may question the real relevance of his compositions, there are very few people who would not acknowledge him as a conductor with phenomenal insight and precision, able to conjure universally acclaimed performances spanning a huge repertoire that are second to none. In the first of these two concerts, Boulez presents us with a snapshot of the worlds of three composers who have most conspicuously inspired his own musical enquiries (Schoenberg and Stravinsky) before ushering us into his own musings via his Notations series. The second concert, while still set in the mercurial landscape of Boulez's mentors, also presents us with new work by Matthias Pintscher, one of the many young composers Boulez has championed over the years, in what promises to be a fine introduction to Boulez's musical approach.

NB: Pierre Boulez conducts the LSO on both 30/04 and 11/05.

Both books by the authors here concentrate on exposing myths of the past, and the repercussions that glossing over atrocities can have on the sanity of individuals, the strength of family bonds and the morale of a nation. In Sebastian Barry's novel The Secret Scripture, the central character is a woman who has spent the majority of her life in a mental institution. As both her 100th birthday and the closure of the home loom ominously, it's a time for reflection. Excerpts from her journal, interspersed with notes from her psychiatrist, tell of a life of pain, misery and mistreatment in 1930s Ireland -- a life that differs from the romanticized view of Irish history we know from Hollywood. In Richard Mason's The Lighted Rooms, the central character, Joan, also an elderly (but very sprightly) woman, is moved by her high-flying hedge fund manager daughter (who is herself embroiled in a dangerous city deal) into a swanky but clinical retirement home. Before she moves, she and her daughter travel to South Africa, where Joan discovers the journal of her great grandmother, which tells of the atrocities suffered by her family in the British concentration camps during the Boer War. Both authors will be reading from and answering questions about their novels, which given their complexity and that they grapple with difficult truths, should be interesting.

NB: also of note is the David Lodge event on 08/05 (7pm) at the LR Bookshop.

Isn't happiness the goal of analysis? Certainly The Sopranos made a case for it, while Freud just blamed it on the parents. But witness the effect of Jacques Lacan for example, via Flashfave Slavoj Zizek, and you see the broad cultural and political significance of psychoanalysis. Trained originally as a paediatrician and inspired by Melanie Klein, DW Winnicott has described analysis as play between patient and analyst. Lacan on the other hand understands playfulness from a linguistic viewpoint. Both approaches -- whatever their differences -- have had their merits, and have certainly made their mark in our world, be it through Winnicott's broadcasting or Lacan's intellectual legacy. With the more pragmatic approach of the former and the playfulness of the other, this conference (with Lisa Appignanesi, Catherine Vanier and Darian Leader) should provide some interesting discussions and highlights.

NB: this event is part of a four-day symposium on Winnicott and Lacan (till 04/05).

Following the international explosion of protest that marked 1968, when people took to the streets in France, Poland, America and Czechoslovakia, a huge shift in attitude occurred throughout the world -- one whose effects are still being felt today. In a similar (albeit slightly more pre-planned) spirit of spontaneity, international celebrations are marking the 40th anniversary. Many of the changes in attitude that occurred with '68 can be felt in cinema: its inspirations, its "language" and its production. This Cine lumiere season combines films, documentaries and newsreels of the period with a selection of more recent documentaries inspired by the time. Particularly strong on French-language cinema: Godard (La Chinoise, Week-end), Philippe Garrel (Le Revelateur), Chris Marker (Le Fond de l'air est rouge) and Alain Tanner (La Salamandre, Jonah Who Will be 25 in the Year 2000), it also includes Bertolucci, Peter Watkins and Polish and Czech focuses, to give a brilliant overview of the mood and the after-effects of '68.

NB: runs till 15/05. This event is part of the London season entitled All Power to the Imagination! 1968 And Its Legacies which runs till 10/06.

Just when you thought you'd never need a record made by Parisians along comes Zombie Zombie, who buck the trend for all things French by not sounding like a scratched CD and instead opt for a much more pleasing mix of psyche, krautrock and the weirder end of disco. With their debut album currently receiving much acclaim and blog hyping, expect the normally already heaving Adventures Close To Home night to be full to bursting point this Friday as they make their way across the channel and up to Camden with their vintage synths and theremins in tow. Should a wall of screaming arpeggiated noise not be to your liking, there's plenty of other flavours to tempt you, not least Ipswich-based graphic designer and rapper Dels, whose debut album is being given the Hot Chip treatment with the band's Joe Goddard taking care of production duties. Throw in the disco punk funk of We Have Band, Hot Chip DJs and even the risk of a run in with a drunkenly enraged beehived diva suddenly looks acceptable.

NB: also of note on the same night is the Man Make Music vs Bruk party with among others Heatwave, Bodycode and Skull Juice at Corsica Studios.

We'd all like to have lived in New York during the '80s to see the post punk No Wave movement in full effect right? Sadly, Dr Who is (pretty awful) fiction so we can't tea leaf his TARDIS and have some fun. Chin up though, as a little slice of post-punk history comes to East London in the form of Salvatore Principato, vocalist for the seminal Liquid Liquid taking part in the inaugural Throwback! night at Hub. The neat concept is that the promoters invite live collaborations between musical pioneers and the inheritors of their artistic legacy. For '80s No Wave pioneers, look no further than Optimo Optimo, whose almost exclusively percussion and bass led grooves not only influenced early hip hop but also modern day bands who seem keen on ponies. Running with the concept of the night, Sal P will be performing live with Santiago quintet Panico, who have a nice unique tropical take on the punk funk sound. Sal P will also be treating the assembled to a DJ set, and he is joined by sublime French producer, possessor of interesting facial hair and epic remixer du jour Joakim (check his amazing efforts for Late Of The Pier and Zombie Zombie for evidence). Mention should be made for the 20jazzfunkgreats kids who will be playing early doors and selecting the weirdbeat musical delights that perch nicely on their blog on a near daily basis.

NB: also of note on the same night are Jay Haze (live), Loco Dice, Andrew Weatherall, Shonky and Hercules And Love Affair (DJ), all playing at Fabric, and Simian Mobile Disco and Alexander Robotnick at Wang's Corsica Studios party.

What's wrong with the world? is a new project by Station House Opera, a theatre company breaking the boundaries between traditional text-based theatre and more visual performance art. The company has dedicated itself to multi-location projects linking cities, countries and even continents. Their new show presented simultaneously at the Soho Theatre Bar in London and Oi Futuro Arts Centre in Rio de Janeiro, combines two stories staged within the same time frame in different locations. Two film noir like narratives involving love and revenge are performed concurrently, and are connected visually through live video projections as settings within the performance. However, the storyline instead of progressing is slowly deconstructed to the basic absurdity of repetition. Through the immediacy of video projection of actual performances as they happen, the director Julian Maynard Smith challenges the concept of time and space in traditional narrative by creating a virtual reality somewhere in between the two. It's a thought provoking and interesting concept, explored with a great sense of humour and not to be taken too seriously.

NB: runs till 04/05.

Many elements of modern cinema we now take for granted as being traditional mainstays of the medium can be said to have their roots in unexpected places. For anyone who is familiar with the films of Akira Kurosawa, the impression his films have left on the industry are noticeable immediately. Kurosawa's trademark character driven morality tales blurred the line between good and evil in the '50s, highlighting the inner complexities of his heroes. The depth of his characters, mostly set in stories from feudal Japan, brought a new dimension to the big screen and created a template for some of the most famous characters in Western cinema in the '60s, most notably inspiring Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name and Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Western series. If three hours of black and white, subtitled Japanese film sound daunting, don't be put off. Screening in the retrospective are Seven Samurai and Rashomon, arguably two of his most successful and internationally known films as well as being genuinely exciting samurai flicks that will have even the staunchest skeptic on the edge of his (or her) seat. Also showing are Throne Of Blood, Kurosawa's unique take on Macbeth, the often overlooked survival story Dersu Uzala and the epic identity-swap piece Kagemusha, providing a spectrum of some of his best work to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his death.

NB: runs till 01/06. Also of note is the Andrzej Wajda restrospective running at the BFI from 02/05 till 30/05.

It was only a matter of time before someone booked Swiss DJ duo, Mountain People, Andre Schmid (aka Rozzo) and Philippe Egger (aka Serafin), to play in London, but their appearance at the first secretsundaze party of 2008, alongside a live set from The Mole, should accommodate their ascension perfectly. Their productions have put them in the frame over the past couple of years but it's even more evident from the recorded sets that have been floating around on the Internet that they can really hold their own behind the turntables. Put simply, these boys play great records, and well. Whether it's brand new material, or yesteryear (but never overplayed) house gems, it's all tied together with a groove as consistent and solid as their productions would suggest. Which leads us nicely onto The Mole, actually -- groove being a key weapon in his arsenal. That, and a genuinely distinctive sound, or, rather, blend of sounds, he makes his own. It's a wonder he hasn't played over here more often as well, so hats off to secretsundaze for another savvy booking. We've only mentioned the guests, of course -- the fact that it's a secretsundaze party alone will guarantee a roadblock. Get their early, in other words.

It is not surprising that that a country such as Italy -- one that prides itself on producing food from good, fresh, local ingredients -- should be the origins of a grass roots movement to change our relationship to the food we consume. From a sleepy hill town in Piemonte in the '80s founder Carlo Petrini, initiated a revolt against the frantic consumption of fast food. The Slow Food movement has since spread into a global community which today has over 80,000 members across pockets of the globe, fostering a new generation of informed and responsible consumers. At the heart of the movement is "eco-gastronomy", re-connecting the food on our plate with an awareness of the conditions under which it is produced. They are not slaves to the moral imperatives of food production, rather the movement fosters a cultural quantum shift in our attitude to food. They cater for a sophisticated and enthused palate, privileging pleasure and taste while intellectualizing the food debate through their global education and scientific programs. Join fellow Slow foodies this May bank holiday weekend to sample over 30 stalls of delicious fresh foods at the Southbank Centre.

NB: runs from 02/05 till 05/05.

Consistently referred to as "The Grand Old Man of Polish Cinema", Andrzej Wajda has been directing films for over half a century, and as his recent Oscar-nominated film Katyn proves, his immense well of talent does not seem to be running dry. With a heroic career that is almost overwhelmed by the weight of awards -- an honorary Oscar for 50 years of filmmaking, numerous Cannes Palme d'Ors and Berlin Gold and Silver Bears, Baftas and a FIPRESCI among others -- he more than deserves his accolades. But almost as much as he is a filmmaker, he can equally be considered a historian and social chronicler. His films act as an exploration of Polish history and its effects on subsequent generations, continuingly unearthing buried truths. Working for most of his career within a highly restrictive political environment, he creatively circumvented those restrictions to create finely nuanced but critical films, often focusing on industrial activism or the legacy of war. The retrospective offers a selection of 13 films from across his career, from his debut A Generation, and equally including "hits" (Ashes And Diamonds, Kanal) and lesser-known works (Rough Treatment).

NB: runs till 30/05. Also of note is the Akira Kurosawa restrospective running at the Barbican from 04/05 till 01/06.

He's one of the foremost literary critics around, but David Lodge wears another hat -- as a leading comic novelist. His extremely popular novels with their punchy titles, anxious protagonists and liberal sprinklings of literary parody, pastiche and satire often correspond to certain aspects of Lodge's own life. His first novel, The Picturegoers, is a portrait of a Catholic family living in South London, and their daughter who has attracted the attentions of their undergraduate lodger -- modelled on Lodge's own experiences with his wife's family. Ginger, You're Barmy drew on his time doing national service and The British Museum Is Falling Down is the story of a poor Catholic graduate working on his thesis in the Reading Room of The British Museum. Lodge's latest book, Deaf Sentence, again reflects his own circumstances as a retired professor struggling with the frustrations and embarrassment of increasing deafness. This is a disability often ridiculed in a way that blindness would never be and Lodge, as usual, uses comedy to discuss a serious issue to great effect. The book will gain recognition from those readers who are or know someone who is deaf. For others, its a bittersweet look at the comedy and tragedy of life.

NB: also at the LR Bookshop are Sebastian Barry + Richard Mason on 01/05 (7pm).

Die-hard film aficionados will relish the opportunity to take Friday off work and attend this 6-hour-long symposium on the life and work of legendary Soviet film director and theorist Andrei Tarkovsky, taking place at Tate Modern Starr Auditorium. The organisers have brought together a stellar panel of speakers, including the filmmaker's son, Andrei Tarkovsky Jr, here to give us a more rounded portrait of the artist, Russian Modernism scholar Robert Bird, filmmaker Hannah Collins, artist Hannah Starkey and novelist Toby Litt among others. Nathan Dunne, who recently published a book on Tarkovsky with Black Dog, will moderate the majority of the talks. As his book attests, Tarkovsky's influence on subsequent directors has been huge, and takes in filmmakers whom one wouldn't necessarily expect to be fans, such as Marc Foster (who made Finding Neverland and Monster's Ball), and Stephen Soderbergh, who remade Solaris in 2002. James Quandt, Senior Programmer at Cinematheque Ontario and who has curated two retrospectives of Takovsky's films, will discuss the wider and more subtle influences of his work on contemporary cinema, which are no doubt extensive. Rounding off the event will be a concert of baroque music (a nice reminder of Andrei Rublev's period setting) by quartet Four Temperaments.

John Currin's latest subject is hardcore eroticism. Various manners and stages of sexual acts are depicted in unabashed detail, along with open mouths and rapturous expressions. This is secretly what's been expected of him, the only logical move from the caricatures of "modern", generally female stereotypes that have dominated his work. His fervent art-historical referencing is at work once again, up close and very personal, giving the images of eroticism that saturate contemporary culture a "sophisticated" finish through the use of Old Master techniques (a move not dissimilar to Francis Picabia's). And Currin's technique is more astounding than ever before -- the glimmer of silks, the translucency of organza, the softness of flesh, the lustre of pearls and gold are captured as well as in any Old Master painting. Included (a la Fragonard) are two paintings of female heads, their satisfied expressions suggesting that there is non-innocent activity beyond (and below) the frames. A very sensual still-life painting, punctuated by a suggestive, shadowy opening between two velvet curtains is as erotic as the other images -- reminding us that it is the uncomfortable place that such "accomplished" painting occupies in the contemporary moment, rather than the overt subject-matter (which itself is not uncomfortable) that makes it so interesting.

NB: runs till 10/05.

In June 2007, Akram Khan spoke about his life and work at the National Portrait Gallery, in the (very) broad context of a lecture series examining "dance, artistic creation and cultural identity". The focus of the lecture returned time and again to his collaborations -- particularly to his work with enigmatic women. In autumn this year he will present the results of a project with Juliette Binoche at the National Theatre, while in May this year his collaboration with Sylvie Guillem returns to Sadler's Wells. Intelligent and awe-inspiring, Sacred Monsters is a sensitive assault on the rigidity of technique. Through speech, music and movement Khan + Guillem, both Associate Artists at Sadler's, demonstrate the clarity than can result from veering off-course. Having been trained in the very different disciplines of Ballet and Kathak, their bodies speak different languages. The verbal and physical conversations they engage in during this work seem to suggest that, through collaboration, both artists have contradicted and complimented their own practices. Whether sacred or profane, the result is unmissable.

NB: runs on 12/05 and 13/05. This event will most likely sell out so buy your tickets now.

As it turns out, the seemingly distant realms of fashion and architecture have in fact been exchanging principles and techniques on a more than casual basis for some time now, as you'll discover at the newly opened Skin+Bones: Parallel Practices In Fashion And Architecture at Somerset House. One of over 200 works on show is the instantly recognisable Hairywood installation (albeit in model form) that was commissioned by The Architecture Foundation and designed by 6a Architects (famed for their oki-ni flagship store refurb on Savile Row) in collaboration with Eley Kishimoto (the eclectic, print-orientated fashion house). Back in the summer of 2005, Hairywood stationed its 6-metre tall frame on Old Street to act as a viewpoint allowing the public to stand back and contemplate urban life, in a fleeting moment of intimacy. The installation, clad in laser-cut plywood boasting Eley Kishimoto's swirly-gig Rapunzel-esque design, has been labelled an urban tower, a summerhouse, a pavilion, even a giant periscope. So intriguing is this piece that Somerset House is returning the tower to the streets of London -- Covent Garden Piazza to be precise -- in June. What's more, the Hairywood collaborators are reuniting for an evening of discussion focusing on their joint creation.

NB: the panel talk will be chaired by Masoud Golsorkhi (Tank) and comprises Elias Redstone (The Architecture Foundation), Mark Emerson (6a Architects) and Mark Eley (Eley Kishimoto). Skin+Bones runs till 10/08.

Property developer and collector David Roberts started a non-profit art foundation and gallery in 2007. Established as a platform for Roberts' extensive collection of more than 2,000 works, it is also designed to discover and expose new artistic and curatorial talent. The second exhibition in the West End space is a Duchampian group show exploring the ready-made, and testing the artists' ability to reinvent minimalism and conceptualism. An intriguing selection of 14 international artists combines emerging talent such as Oliver Clegg and Tatsuya Kimata with more established names such as Martin Creed and Elmgreen & Dragset, who use found and newly constructed objects, making the viewer question what is real and what is fake. Clegg uses cast-off children's toys as the canvas for his paintings, reinventing objects that carry the potential for nostalgia; Kimata produces exquisite marble sculptures out of mundane objects such as light sockets and socks; Creed transforms everyday objects into aesthetic pieces; and Bettina Allamoda questions the role of contemporary art in our environment. This intriguing exhibition offers an insight into the previously unseen collection of Roberts, while exploring an interesting area of artistic practice and unveiling exciting new talent alongside old school conceptualists.

NB: runs till 25/05. Other artists in this exhibition include among others Neil Gali, Simon Linke, Nate Lowman and Pierre Bismuth.

Nigel Cooke's paintings capture the world as apocalyptic, dismal, dysfunctional and littered with figures that mock and play, and who live out their vagabond lives in a toxic landscape. However, in his latest work, his New Accursed Art Club members occupy a new place. Where once the noxious skies took priority over his figures, dwarfing the activity at the bottom of the canvas, now his bearded and clownish Smurf-like creatures wander freely in colourful, dreamy psychedelic worlds, pulping pop culture in their wake. Merging a Monty Pythonesque absurdity with a pinch of Yellow Submarine graphics, as seen through cracked spectacles, Cooke's work is immediately recognizable. Hovering on the borderland between paradise and hell, imagined and real, his work is pitiful yet mischievous. These paintings are filled with painters -- many reminiscent of van Gogh's homeless tramp -- rendering each other, mirroring their alien fantasy worlds. Playing with the history of painting, Cooke offers us a hyperreal fantastic world in his highly skilled and graceful way. The allure is in the journey and the revelation of painterly dexterity in these fateful landscapes.

NB: runs till 25/05.

The meeting of Philip Bobbitt, American author, and scholar of constitutional law and military strategy, and Eyal Weizman, architect and academic specialising in architecture and human rights in the Israel/Palestinian regions is an enticing prospect. Both men have thought broadly, deeply and imaginatively about war and its effetcs on the development ofthe 21st century, to expand our understanding of conflict at this historical juncture. Bobbitt's experience across US administrations in intelligence and national security from Carter to Clinton, informed two weighty academic texts, The Shield Of Achilles and subsequently Terror And Consent, focusing on the post 9/11 condition. He moves beyond demonizing radicalism to address the global shifts in power across seamless borders in globalisation that was made the West complicit in empowering terrorism. Weizman, who now heads up the Research Architecture program at Goldsmiths College, has ground-breaking work on the military and spatial politics of the West Bank, examining the relationship between building and planning schemes to the troubled politics of the region, and proposing a model for an expanded notion of citizenship that works beyond territorial ownership. His academic texts Hollow Land and A Civilian Occupation to name but two, provide a fascinating look into the complex spatial dimensions of this conflict.

As the anniversary of the protests of May 1968 in Paris approaches, a young Frenchman is taking the artworld by storm. With simultaneous shows at the Palais de Tokyo and the ICA at the age of 29, this artist is nothing but precocious. His name is Loris Greaud. He has a rare musical talent, having studied at the Conservatoire de Musique, set up his own record label and created DGZ Research -- with architects Marc Doelger and Damien Ziakovic -- a multidisciplinary production studio involved in the realisation this show, Cellar Door (Once Is Always Twice). The installation is a wonderful fusion of art, architecture and music inspired by the symbol of the studio -- a space designed for perpetual creativity. Designed with three identical rooms, separated by high-speed automatic doors, it encourages us to reflect on the uncanny notion of doubling. Stepping into each room is like entering a parallel universe, with patterns derived from stars and architectural geometry, distinctly reminiscent of the geodesic dome of Buckminster Fuller. And you can try sweets from a vending machine, named Celador. Invented by DGZ, they too are a source of illusion, because they have no taste. Like the installation, they encourage you to project yourself into an imaginary world. Visit the show and, to borrow from Greaud's mirrored wall text, "You will see for yourself..."

NB: runs till 22/06. On Thursdays (7 - 9pm) during run the of the show, and only if you are lucky, experience Loris Greaud's multiplication of rooms under the influence of black champagne served by identical triplets.

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