Wednesday 25 February (7:15pm)

@ French Institute, 17 Queensberry Place, (020.7073.1350) Tube: South Kensington

Reading an old essay from university must be a heartening experience for some. Say psychoanalytic theorist Andre Green perhaps, who picked up the academic ball from the student's second favourite French philosopher-analyst Jacques Lacan and kept on running, until he became l'homme that was setting the pace. For others, whose creative thinking now no longer extends to debating if it's possible to escape The Symbolic Order that you never asked to enter in the first place (fyi, it's not), discovering that old essay means realising that all that has happened to you since graduation is that you've dumbed down. If you fall into the latter category this free event covering the main trends in psychoanalysis is likely to be an evening that will make you feel as if you've restored a few of the brain cells that a decade or so of vin consumption has destroyed.

Thursday 26 February (Daily 10am - 6pm, Tue & Wed until 8pm)

@ Hayward Gallery, South Bank, SE1 (020.7960.5226) Tube: Waterloo

WHAAM! BLAM! If you've ever opened a comic book, casually glanced at a BD, then you've raked your gaze over a Roy Lichtenstein form. Challenged early on by his children to make a painting as fun as their Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck comics, he did just that; the result was one lifelong Benday journey. In turning every painting into a stylised picture, making every "brushstroke" an ironic gesture, you could call him a postmodern, but the end result of turning the whole world into one gigantic cartoon language -- flat imagery created by dots hemmed in by bold black lines -- seems less unreasonable today than in 1955. It is this ability to translate the world into a set of graphic iconography that links Lichtenstein with Chinese painting as much as the early "cartoons" of the Renaissance sculptors. With Warhol, Rosenquist and Oldenburg, and Rauschenberg and Johns before them, Pop Art or the "New Realism" was set upon an "innocent" America. Out with the heavy, emotional drag of Abstract Expressionism and in with this cool, cool figurative attitude. With a range of work from painting to Sculpture, expect this retrospective -- the first here in 30 years -- to put a smile on your face, and -- like the bricks -- show you how simple things can be so profound. (Runs till 16/05.)

Films: In sync with the exhibition, the Curzon Soho will be screening a series of films on Pop, its artists and their themes: strange Californian Bruce Conner's films (26/02, 6pm), Hollywood Stars (02/03, 6pm), Consumerist Imagery (4/03, 6pm), and Sunday double bills of Barbarella & Flash Gordon (double bill, 29/02), and Jean-Luc Godard(07/03). Check cinema for details.

Talks: The first group of talks on Lichtenstein will be by Avis Berman of the RL Foundation's archives (26/2, 3:30pm) and artist Fiona Rae and Sarah Kent of Time Out (09/03, 6:30pm).

Thursday 26 February (6:45pm)

@ Calder Bookshop, 51 The Cut, SE1 (020.7620.2900) Tube: Waterloo/Southwark

An evening of conversation with an ex-bookshop owner. Crumbs Mavis, get out the sleeping bags, let's go queue! Not, perhaps, the Evening Standard's idea of a "hot ticket", but when the ex-bookshop owner is Tim Waterstone -- the astute amongst you will appreciate KF's altruistic intent. Among bibliophiles Waterstone is Goliath, Moses, Bush and bin Laden rolled into one. Just think back to the '80s, to the wild days before the first Waterstone's on the Brompton Road, when WH Smith's was the "bookshop"; no one had what you wanted, there were no comfy chairs, and little back-street bookshops had regulars and flourished. But we digress. Tim Waterstone may have genocidally exterminated high-street bookshops across the country but he also single-handedly changed the bookstore, made the experience classy, convenient, "cool" even, and presumably made stacks of cash. Then guess what? His whole world went tits up. KF doesn't want to spoil the end for you but entreats you to seek out this extraordinary figure at an unbelievably cheap price (£4). A figure at least three zeros less than his average for an evening. If you're quite old or a scrounging student it's practically free! Catch this legend.

NB: Tim Waterstone will talk of his career and ambitions with John Calder. Clive Bradley, the former director of the Publishers' Association, will chair the event and lead a subsequent discussion.

Thursday 26 February (7:30pm - 3am)

@ Electrowerkz, 7 Torrens St., EC1 (020.7837.6419) Tube: Angel

Promoters and eclectic show putter-on-ers Eat Your Own Ears and Welsh-Czech trio The Mountaineers present another instalment of their Hot Trees collaboration this Thursday at the Electrowerkz, bringing together an impressive collection of upbeat and up-and-coming home-grown acts. A jaunty set of electronic/country/folk/jazz twists, the Liverpool five-piece The Zutons are headlining, throwing-in some voodoo soul, and a quirky mix of funk-inspired guitars. The genre-confounding Mountaineers take second place, backed-up by the rough-hewn charm of Twisted Nerve's Aidan Smith, Fridge bassist Adem (recently signed to Domino with his new acoustic band), and Warp's warm, electronic beats man, Ulrich Schnauss, amongst others. With a stellar crew of acts taking to the decks alongside the live line-up -- including Kieran Hebden (aka Four Tet), the very happy Bees and Andy Weatherall -- this feels a bit like a surprisingly celebratory family gathering, where you actually like everyone who's going to be there, and you won't wanna leave till the lights go on and the power's switched off.

Friday 27 February

@ Various cinemas across London

Simplicity is not always a bad thing. In fact, in cinema it can be an unexpected treat and in Valentin, the method is perfect, with the camera subtlety presenting a child's heightened sense of environment, while maintaining an ease, which lets the story tell itself. Set during the turbulent years of '60s Argentina, Valentin's search for a real family leads him to valuable lessons about life and love in unexpected places, while insights into the fantasy and real world through the eyes of a little boy is genuinely enchanting. Don't expect a sickly sweet film. Alejandro Agresti is able to present something far better than any slush due in part to this being semi-autobiographical, with Agresti confronting demons of his own by playing his father. But through the psychiatry Agresti undergoes, he presents a child whose simple yet wanting look at the world offers insight for the adults around him. And as with other films that he's made, Agresti proves his ability to tell tales of personal journeys and the wonders of strangeness in a place that's far away, but not really that different.

NB: The Curzon Soho will host a special screening on Fri 27/02 (7:30pm) which includes a talk and some Argentinean wine. Advance bookings can be made through the Curzon site or by calling 020.7734.2255.

Friday 27 February (6:30 - 10pm)

@ V&A Museum, Cromwell Rd., SW7 (020.7942.2000) Tube: South Kensington

No one can fail to notice the longer hours of daylight, even with present levels of light pollution. To celebrate how light is manipulated and designed the V&A have organised a bonanza evening of entertainment on the them of light. From a historical perspective, curator Terry Bloxham will explore how glass is formed and coloured, explaining how artists throughout history have communicated via the manipulation of light through glass in his tour Colour and Light -- which takes you from stained glass through the ages, to a tour of the current exhibition Brilliant by Jane Pavitt. Carl Clerkin, furniture and product designer will join forces with lighting design Jeremy Lloyd, to run a light construction workshop experimenting with everything from fairy lights and fluorescent tubes to found objects and electro luminescent wire. Every space seems to have been infiltrated with illumination: a journey through the Sculpture Court will reveal the innovative lighting projections created by The Light Surgeons, while dancers interacting with Ulli Oberlack's wearable light objects, creating beautiful projections on to their bodies. Definately a special night of illumination.

NB: A key event will be the debate between architect and light designer Arnold Chan of Isometrix (which has worked with Joseph, Rogers, Pawson, Schrager, Nouvel, Herzog de Meuron, Lovegrove, Newson...) with light artist Peter Freeman and Jane Parvitt, curator.

Friday 27 February (8pm)

@ The Forum, 9-17 Highgate Rd., NW5 (020.7344.0044) Tube: Kentish Town

This week, highly renowned label-of-all-trades Ninja Tune intend to rock and shock the nation with a massive Zen TV audio/visual extravaganza. To coincide with not one, not two but three "greatest hits" style releases, a rather stupendous line-up of everybody's favourite Ninja artists, both old and new, will be on hand to provide a multitude of aural and visual delights. Original dance-floor hooligans and Ninja daddies Coldcut have been constantly breaking boundaries, from the release of the UK's first sample-built record in 1987 to the development of their own video sample software, VJamm, and with a live AV/DJ set will prove they are still ahead of our time. Joining them are the dynamic duo Hexstatic, famed for their AV performances and most recently their irreverent take on bootlegging, exactshit. Seeing as some of his best friends are DJs Ninja signing Kid Koala is compering the evening and will also be performing live with his unique turntablist skills. And as if this wasn't enough, Ninja newbies Skalpel and Blockhead will be playing sets along with Solid Steel DJ extraordinaire, DK.

Giveaway: We have two Zen goodie bags (DVD, stickers, Ninja skinz...) to give away. They'll go to two randomly picked Flashers who can tell us the date of Solid Steel's first gig in 2004.

Saturday 28 February (11:30am - 1:30pm)

@ Curzon Soho, 93-107 Shaftesbury Ave., W1 (020.7439.4805) Tube: Leicester Sq./Piccadilly

What's going on Londoners? Firstly our Fashion Week is slagged off for having too many hot fresh young designers, and too few gawdy leather skinned wrinklies, by those jealous haggard old hangers-on. Then new Brit Flick The Sex Lives of the Potato Men is crushed by Will Self, leaving the remains to be scavenged by anti-lottery-funded film hacks. And finally the Inland Revenue changes a film tax-loop into a noose and leaves the UK Film Industry to go hang itself. Pass us a vodka and some St. Johns Wort (do not do this at home), and order a cab for Extreme Cinema (do do this). A chance to escape into the shorts' world of Hitchcocks's Bon Voyage, Francois Truffaut's Les Mistons, and Kevin MacDonald's 9 min Trying to Make a Film, only then to be soothed by MacDonald's Scottish tones and words of visionary wisdom in a Q&A headed by editor of Sight & Sound, Nick James. FYI, MacDonald the award-winning director (One Day In September) and record-braker (Touching The Void has just broken the record for the highest grossing documentary in the UK) is so supadupa hot right now that he has a development deal with like everyone in London. A must for any film students seeking solace and inspiration, and ideal for general moral boosting and regrouping for industry types and film lovers -- a chance to lick those wounds and remember why film can be great, and that some great film-makers are British.

Saturday 28 February (8pm)

@ ICA, The Mall, SW1 (020.7930.3647) Tube: Charing Cross/Piccadilly Circus

LA's electronic imprint Plug Research celebrates the grand old age of ten this year; the result, a whole decade's worth of time spent filtering highly innovative and extraordinary electronic and hip-hop oriented pioneers out into the wider sonic world, via the US underground. This weekend they hook up with Prefuse 73's seminal Eastern Developments label, bringing two of their most exciting current acts in from across the pond, for a night of mesmerising and fluid soundscaping. The Joycean title aside, Daedelus is a young musical romantic who has been embraced by the luminaries of avant-garde hip-hop. With a background in classical instrumentation, his sampling of acoustic sources is inspired, picking up a history of sounds, anywhere from the '30s to '70s, which he uses to create a combination of genre-defying, down-tempo melodies and edgy, chopped-up electronics. Alongside the young artist features a UK debut from labelmates and LA neighbours AmmonContact, a partnership between celebrated Californian producer Carlos Nino and bedroom beatmaker Fabian Ammon Alston, whose "Blue Note" tendencies give way to gutsy explorations of bass-heavy, instrumental hip-hop. An array of Plug Research DJs top off the live bill. To give you an idea about the quality of this lot, Prefuse 73 invited them to Barcelona so that he could support them!

Giveaway: We have two pairs of tickets to give away. They'll go to two flashers who can tell us which book Daedelus featured in.

Saturday 28 February (10pm - 5am)

@ Egg, 200 York Way, N7 (020.7609.8364) Tube: King's Cross

King of the re-edit, Body & SOUL legend, New York club stalwart, man of the balding head and master of the decks: Mr. Krivit is back in our mighty town. The story of Danny Krivit dates back to the arse end of the '60s, when a young and probably "with hair" Mr. K used to hang out in his father's bar, while his mother earned her crust as a professional jazz singer. By the early '70s, Danny played regularly to the fanatical gay crowd at his father's bar, and a love of dance was born. From there he proceeded to become a regular on the scene, roller-skating around the Paradise Garage, before progressing to spin alongside the likes of legends Levan, Siano and Francois K. It was in '96, that the trio of Claussell, Kervorkian and of course Krivit held the inaugural Body & SOUL party. Six years later it ground to a halt but has left an indelible and everlasting impression on the scene: beautiful, deep, soulful, spiritual, funky music. Krivit, by now a DJ-ing globetrotter, will be playing a Whistlebump party (their fifth birthday) on the 28/2. On this occasion, the excellent Egg will host the party, located in the wilderness of the King's Cross wastelands. Providing more than ample support will be Simon Haggis, Kev Beadle, and the mighty Gilles Peterson.

Saturday 28 February (10pm - 6am)

@ 166 Holloway Rd., N7 (see website)

The true, dark underground will once more slam into London town this Saturday. Lost host another of their sporadic nights and this time the line-up represents the absolute pinnacle of the techno genre. Jeff Mills will play in support of his new and innovative Exhibitionist mix CD and DVD. To witness Mills, head honcho of Axis Records, behind the decks is to see a true master of his art in motion. Aside from DJ-ing, Mills is clearly blessed with exceptional musical abilities, and this translates to a frenetic, compelling and blistering talent behind the decks. Complementing the presence of Mills will be another Detroit legend, this time in the form of Kevin Saunderson, mastermind behind Inner City, and purveyor of stark yet often luscious beats. Resident Steve Bicknell, the unsung hero of Lost, will also play in the main room, ensuring a night of unrelenting and exceptional sounds. Lost plays a special role in London's underground culture. Minimal promotion, non-existent corporate whoredom or cashing in: the night is about 100% music, a good old-fashioned party dancing to the sounds of that most blistering genre, pure techno.

Sunday 29 February (Part I at 2pm; Part II at 7:15pm)

@ Barbican Centre, Barbican Centre, EC2 (020.7638.8891) Tube: Barbican

This extraordinary film is perfect for a long winter's afternoon -- and evening. It's the definitive film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's great novel, War and Peace (1968), which charts the lives of two aristocratic Russian families during the turmoil of Napoleon's advance towards Moscow. Soviet director Sergei Bondarchuk intended the film (1968) to celebrate the centenary of the novel's publication. His aim was clear: "with the aid of modern cinematic means to reproduce Tolstoy's thoughts, emotions, philosophy and ideals," says critic Rob Edelman. He certainly succeeded. This seven-hour film is epic in the widest sense of the word. It took five years to produce, it cost nearly $100 million to create (it is one of the most expensive films ever made) and it used 120,000 Red Army soldiers as extras for the famous Battle of Borodino scene. The latter illustrates the director's faithful rendering of the novel through realistic detail and rich characterisation. Excellent performances by Lyudmila Savelyeva, Vyacheslav Tikhonov and Bondarchuk himself far surpass those of Henry Fonda and Audrey Hepburn in the static Hollywood film version (1956). Deservedly, War and Peace won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1968. A sublime achievement!

NB: The film is being screened in two parts: Part I at 2pm and Part II at 7:15pm.

Monday 1 March

@ ICA, The Mall, SW1 (020.7930.3647) Tube: Charing Cross/Piccadilly Circus

The revival of Yoko Ono began in 2000 with a travelling retrospective in the US and culminated at the last Venice Biennale. A solo show of recent works organised by the ICA creates the rare and precious occasion to watch her early films from the Fluxus years to those co-authored with John Lennon. Extraordinary mini-essays like Bottoms (1966) or Fly (1970) are paradigmatic of Ono's conception of the body as a prop for transient sculptures -- the former is a sequence of dancing buttocks' cracks; in the latter the body is a plinth for a fly's live performance. The selection includes the striking, almost autobiographical, Rape, realised after her "instruction-script", in which a cameraman is asked to chase an unwitting girl through the streets of London. The tension between the will to dominate the media and the way they condition celebrities' lives is the theme of the classic and unmissable Bed-In (1969). This beautifully edited account fits the contemporary debate on media with a strong and not obvious accent on a bi-directional exploitation. If the famous press conference lasting a week in Yoko and John's bedroom represents a vivid picture of the hippy years, it also outrageously shows the forceful attempt to manipulate the media's attention whose level of success has never been attained again.

NB: This season runs from Mon 01/03 till Fri 26/03. See the ICA website for the full programme.

Monday 1 March (6:30 - 7:30pm)

@ Geological Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, W1 (020.7434.9944) Tube: Piccadilly Circus

Some great buildings may be art, but others are just great for showing art in. It's this latter market that architect Richard Gluckman seems to have cornered in recent years -- minimalist but not bland, more Parry than Gehry. To name just a few of his projects: the Berlin Guggenheim; the Picasso Museum in Malaga; the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh; a renovation of the Whitney in New York, and the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo (probably the highest museum in the world, occupying the 52nd and 53rd storeys of a tower complex). Thanks to his first big break -- a renovation of the Dia Art Foundation -- his signature style developed alongside such conceptual big-hitters as Donald Judd and Dan Flavin. Since then his gallery and retail therapy (Helmut Lang) collaborations have virtually colonised New York's SoHo and Chelsea (Paula Cooper, Andrea Rosen, Luhring Augustine, Gagosian, Mary Boone, Cheim & Reid...) and latterly the world. Surprisingly, he's still passionately excited by art, and about engaging the public with his own architecture -- his recent work is proof of a singular lack of laurel-resting.

NB: To purchase tickets call 020.7300.5839.

Tuesday 2 March (7pm)

@ Photographers' Gallery, 5 & 8 Great Newport St., WC2 (020.7831.1772) Tube: Leicester Sq.

David Goldblatt may well end up in the history books as the most important visual documenter of South Africa's apartheid era. It won't be a title he'll publicly endorse, however; keen to avoid being co-opted for someone else's agenda, he's famously reticent about the political implications of his photographs. Yet his prolific catalogue of portraits and architectural studies shrewdly exposes how apartheid affected and -- just as importantly -- was sustained by ordinary people across the racial, religious and economic spectrum from the '60s to the post-apartheid aftermath of today. His championing by Documenta curator Okwui Enwezor has surely helped this -- until recently -- under-recognised artist reach his current international star status. Goldblatt's new colour photographs were a highlight of Documenta 11; particularly unsettling was the one that demonstrated the proximity of Johannesburg's nouveau riche Vegas-style estates to a nearby shanty town. A retrospective of his work, co-curated by Enwezor, is still on its global tour following a pit-stop at Modern Art Oxford last year. It'll be interesting to see how far Goldblatt will be able to avoid politics in his conversation with Mark Haworth-Booth, Senior Curator of Photographs, V&A.

NB: David Goldblatt will be speaking on 02/03 (7pm), and there will be a panel discussion about the Citibank Photography Prize on 25/03 (7pm). Check site for the full talk programme.

Ends Sunday 7 March (Tue to Sat 7:30pm; Sun 5:30pm)

@ Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, SW11 (020.7326.8200)

Any mention of Myra Hindley is guaranteed to provoke an explosive media reaction. It is refreshing and somewhat unsettling to see the issue of women killers stripped of its familiar mantle of tabloid sensationalism. And All The Children Cried ventures beyond judgement, condemnation and sentimentalism to the heart of this searing issue: how we handle, or rather fail to handle, women who murder children. Co-written by journalist Beatrix Campbell and social worker Judith Jones, and revised since Hindley's death in 2002, Act I is a portrayal of two women prisoners, Myra and Gail, both serving life sentences for murdering children. Part conversation, part confession, the play's themes of cause and transgression will force you to cross-examine your ideas of crime. Act II is a live debate, giving you a chance to respond and provide some sort of verbal release to your freshly blown mind after the first act. There'll be different speakers each night, from politicians to psychiatrists, all sure to be bursting with opinion. Illuminating and progressive, this is theatre at its most relevant.

Sunday 7 March (7pm)

@ Brixton Academy, 211 Stockwell Rd., SW9 (020.7771.3000) Tube: Brixton

Only six months ago, things were not looking good for the Albion four's voyage to Arcadia. Some might cite Pete's detention at Her Majesty's pleasure as the moment when cotton-headed fantasy gave way to gin-clear reality, but the truth is that dramas both real and imagined are The Libertines' bread and butter. Whether it's canny self-mythologising or just gobby bullshit, the band's every move has been clouded by a mess of porkies and propaganda. You might think getting Chas 'n' Dave in as support was laying on a bit thick, but who can complain when the Best of British currently amounts to Busted, shark-eyed and swaggering through "Teenage Kicks" like they wrote the fucker. In times like these, the Libertines' inordinate charm and knack for knocking out corking tunes as quickly as impromptu gigs in grotty boozers make for a welcome tonic. Join them in the hope that all that's past is prelude, as these gigs precede the forthcoming second album. As the song goes, "If you've lost your faith in love and music, then the end can't be long..."

NB: The Libertines play the Brixton on three night Fri 05/03, Sat 06/03 and Sun 07/03. Both Fri and Sat nights are sold out.

Ends Saturday 20 March (Mon to Fri 10am - 6pm; Thu till 7pm; Sat 10am - 5pm )

@ Haunch of Venison, 6 Haunch of Venison Yard, W1 (020.7495.5050) Tube: Bond St.

Curated by American art critic Terry R. Myers, Robert Overby's posthumous first solo show in Europe is a real must-see in London's late winter. After a brilliant career in graphic design, Overby started his powerful series of "negative" sculptures, featuring casts of architectural elements and details. Imagine a West Coast Bruce Nauman that conflates Joseph Beuys and Eva Hesse. Overby's work combines a physical and organic feeling generated by the consistency and tone of his materials (latex rubber, wax and resin) to create a powerful, evocative transcendence. Casts of the space contained in a sock alongside wax doors and rubber skins of whole walls from his studio set the tone for a poetic approach to the real, formally condensed in the blend of colour, material and shape. Never shown before his death in 1993, the works convey a sense of fragility and a sensuous attachment to affective components casting a new light to the Post-Minimalist era.

NB: Runs till 20/03.