We bring you our guide to living well in the world’s capitals, from exhibitions to cinema, food, drink, fashion, music and beyond. Just call it culture and take it, it’s yours.

LONDON, FRIDAY 15th MAY – SUNDAY 17th MAY 2015

The horror
Francis Ford Coppola boasts an oeuvre of the highest calibre, from The Godfather trilogy to his psychological thriller The Conversation. However it’s his 1979 epic Apocalypse Now that stands out above the rest, an ingeniously hallucinatory take on war films cited by many as the greatest film ever made.

The year is 1969, the Vietnam War is at its peak. The film opens with the scene of a jungle, pristine, full of life and green. And then comes the bomb, the napalm, the fire and the symbolic opening notes from The Doors’ The End chime in. Sent on a mission to assassinate a rouge officer, Captain Willard (Sheen) must head deep into enemy territory, coming face to face with the horrors of war.

Boasting an all-star cast of Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Harrison Ford and Dennis Hopper Apocalypse Now succeeds in being unrelenting in maintaining a constant disorientation and incredibly disturbing tone throughout.

Apocalypse Now is being shown at the Prince Charles cinema on Sunday May 17th at 20pm.
Book tickets here

“I don’t give a shit what the world thinks. I was born a bitch, I was born a painter, I was born fucked.”
Frida Kahlo’s life was ridden with pain. In 1913 when she was just six years old Kahlo contracted polio leaving her with a deformed right foot. Later, at the age of 18 her life was again turned upside down when a bus she was riding crashed into a tram, miraculously Kahlo survived, however it left her disabled. When she was home in a body cast she started painting from her bed on an easel her mother set up, using a mirror hanging from the canopy to paint herself.

These self portraits defined Kahlo’s aesthetic; with her thick eyebrows and symbolic Mexican motifs. Her work was also heavily influenced by her troubled marriage to Diego Rivera, Mexico’s most famous painter. “There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the trolley, and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst,” she once said, not one to mince her words.

When Kahlo died in 1954, Rivera began collecting her personal possessions inside the bathroom of their house in Mexico City. Over time, those abandoned relics — down to leftover Revlon nail polish, dried in its tube — became a collection of over 300 items. Rivera left instructions to keep the room sealed until 15 years after his death, many years later, in 2004, the collection came to light.

Michael Hoppen gallery’s latest exhibition Frida exhibits Japanese photographer Ishiuchi Miyako’s photographic record of the possessions kept behind closed doors for all these years.

As far as life stories go, Frida’s is as unique as it is inspiring and this exhibition shines an intimate light on her troubled yet brilliant life.

Frida runs from May 14th until July 12th at Michael Hoppen gallery, SW3 3TD 

A meeting of minds
This weekend Electric Ballroom has pulled out all the stops, hosting one of the most hotly anticipated collaborations of the year; Hip Hop jazz instrumentalists BADBADNOTGOOD and Wu-Tang legend Ghostface Killah, together, sharing the same stage, yes.

Their joint record Sour Soul hit the stores early this year and it more than lives up to expectation, BADBADNOTGOOD’s instrumental’s move from space age westerns to 1920’s jazz whilst Ghostface Killah cuts through with his slack rhyming style.

Get to the front, feel those speakers vibrate.

Badbadnotgood and Ghostface Killah play at Electric Ballroom, Camden on Friday 15th May
Book tickets here

‘Kool Thing let me play it with your radio’
If your ears aren’t quite satisfied and you fancy something more six stringed and altogether facemeltingly grunge, head the way of Oslo in Hackney for Thurston Moore’s two day residency.

The ex-Sonic Youth guitarist is a vanguard in the canon of era-defining guitarists. By way of his unorthodox tuning patterns and avant-garde techniques (such as mutilating his instrument with various power tools to made squalling feedback onstage) his synonymous reverb ridden, grizzled style of playing helped form the very concept of alt rock.

Since his time in Sonic Youth came to an abrupt end in 2011 Moore has put out four solo albums, an album with his band Chelsea Light Moving and numerous film scores and collaborations. His prolific catalogue of work makes for a thrilling live set, guaranteed to leave you calling for Moore.

Thurston Moore plays at Oslo, Hackney on Friday 15th and Saturday 16th May
Book tickets here

Sax and violins in Trafalgar Square
After all those late night gigs you’re probably in need of some down time, well we have the ideal cure to your musical hangover. Whilst you’re out and about this Sunday make a detour for Trafalgar Square and take in some of that there culture; the London Symphony Orchestra are setting up shop in the square for their annual free performance.

The schedule for 2015 is all things Shostakovich, the Russian composer. Not familiar with his work? Us neither tbh. But it’s definitely worth a passing trip as London always looks at it’s most majestic set to orchestral symphonies.

London Symphony Orchestra will be playing in Trafalgar Square throughout Sunday May 17th

Three men in a junk shop; a poser, a human doormat and an ex-junkie
Lately there’s been a spate of Hollywood A-listers treading the West End floorboards, from Lindsey Lohan to Kevin Spacey. John Goodman is the latest US icon to cross the Atlantic, starring in David Mamet’s 1975 play American Buffalo alongside British actors Damian Lewis and Tom Sturridge.

The story follows three wasters in a Chicago junk shop, having accidentally sold a rare nickel for less than it’s worth they plot to steal it back, not that it ever gets going.

Intrigued? You should be, American Buffalo is a major piece of American literature, soaked in American Dream symbolism, in a similar vein to Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman – also check out the 1996 film adaptation starring Dustin Hoffman and Dennis Franz.

It’s worth the money to see Damien Lewis rock the handlebar moustache and mutton chops combo alone.

American Buffalo runs until June 27th at Wyndham’s Theatre, WC2H 0DA
Book tickets here

Cooking on gas
All that musical goodness really builds up an appetite, you’re probably now thinking ‘where’s all the good grub at?’ Well, this weekend fill up at Pump Shoreditch, a converted disused petrol station pop-up food market.

However this is no ordinary petrol station, there’s no Ginsters sold here (sadly). Launching this weekend Pump doesn’t scrimp on the options, stalls include flatbread connoisseurs Sburoni, Japanese hot dog makers J-DOG and pulled meat lovers Pulled by Morito.

We recommend hitting up Fish Dogs for one of their infamous fish finger sandwiches. Don’t ever say we don’t give good advice.

Pump Shoreditch, E1 6HU opens on Thursday 13th May
Follow them on Facebook here

TOP GALLERY IMAGE CREDITS:
1.Still, Apocalypse Now 1979 © Paramount Pictures
2.Still, Apocalypse Now 1979 © Paramount Pictures
3.Still, Apocalypse Now 1979 © Paramount Pictures
4.Frida on White Bench.1939. photograph by Nickolas Muray
5.Traditional dress. photo by Ishiuchi MiyakoCourtesy Michael Hoppen Gallery
6.Sonic Youth. photo by Anders Jensen-Urstad
7.BadBadNotGood. Image © PR
8.Sour Soul. 2015 album artwork. Lex Records
9.LSO. image by Kevin Leighton for the LSO
10.American Buffalo. 2015 at Wyndham’s Theatre. Photo by Johan Persson
11.Damian Lewis in American Buffalo at Wyndham’s Theatre. Photo by Johan Persson
12.Pump Shoreditch. Image courtesy of Pump