El Anatsui is recognised as one of Africa’s foremost contemporary artists. Known for his signature bottle cap sculptures, his practice is punctuated by works that utilise a variety of mediums.

Cartwright Hall sits in the award-winning Lister Park – an appropriate venue in terms of its relatively close proximity to the birthplace of the artist.

In her first major solo exhibition in the UK, Shilpa Gupta uses an eclectic variety of media to explore some of the themes most central to her work: censorship and script as tools of communication.

Gillian Wearing’s early investigations of public faces and private lives predate Big Brotherand Twitter, and in this Whitechapel survey the work appears both pioneering and slightly archaic.

Danse-moi vers la fin de l’amouris the culmination of a project by the artists Samuel Levack and Jennifer Lewandowski. The project explores the freedoms that result from the hedonistic ritual of dance.

BALTIC 39 is a new hub for Contemporary Art in Newcastle upon Tyne opens to the public on Friday 6 April. Aesthetica spoke to BALTIC Director Godfrey Worsdale on the gallery’s recent success.

There is a lot of bitter chatter about public funded arts organisations at the moment. There’s the much contested ACE capital-funding programme, rumours of the…

Edinburgh Art Festival announces its programme for its ninth edition. Taking place in more than 30 of the city’s museums, not-for-profit and commercial galleries, EAF will feature over 45 exhibitions.

Currently showing at Manchester Art Gallery is Roger Ballen’s first major solo exhibition in the UK, representing three decades of Ballen’s photography.

With an insightful introduction from Tristan Manco, the stage is set, and the artists are profiled and their practice discussed in great detail.

Artists are more known, recognisable and part of the fabric of daily life than ever before. Art is no longer niche; it’s here, right in front of our faces.

The history of film is broad, diverse and complicated, so any text that manages to distil 120 years of the moving image into a stimulating read deserves celebrating.

Published to highlight the dynamism and complexity of the contemporary art scene in Korea, this text offers an introduction to the work of 30 of the country’s most talented artists and their works.

FUSE 1-20 is a fantastic demonstration not just of the execution, but also of the anatomy of type. The main text comprises editions 1-18, two new issues, 10 A2 posters and 24 downloadable fonts.

Informative and thought-provoking, this book encourages readers to become more aware of the impact the garment industry has on wider sustainability.

If you like Kings of Leon, the chances are you’ll love this second album from Chicago quartet Maps & Atlases.

Conflict is the theme here, and Kidd handles it well, turning what could have been a trying experience into one that will haunt and dazzle you in equal measure.

Johnny Parry is the founder of Lost Toys Records and has played with a number of acclaimed musicians including Beth Orton and Talvin Singh, as well as Turner Prize winning artist Martin Creed.

Best described as a “musical mélange”, Free Time! displays a range of world music influences from the tribal in Death Is Not A Lover to the exotic in Cyborg Machine.

We have a confession to make: we’ve fallen in love with Alex Starling’s voice. Starling flies as high as his namesake.

Clock Opera’s debut album is a euphoric mix of upbeat rhythms and occasional near psychedelic moments.

Set in Afghanistan, a French journalist has been kidnapped by the Taliban, so the French Special Forces set off to rescue her.

After discovering that he has only one day to live, self-proclaimed genius, K. Roth Binew, drags his fellow manservant around on a rickshaw as he attempts to uncover the meaning of life in the face of death. It sounds ridiculous, and it is.

Set in post-war England, The Awakening begins with just the right level of suspense and drama. Florence Cathcart aims to debunk spiritualism and the supernatural.

Las Acacias invites the viewer to join lorry driver Rubén as he drives single mother Jacinta and her baby from Paraguay to Buenos Aires.

Those familiar with Vittorio De Sica’s work through Italian neorealism are in for a surprise with surreal comedy Il Boom, re-released to mark its 50th anniversary.

Dreams of a Life is the heartbreaking story of Joyce Vincent, whose decomposed remains were found in her London bedsit by the local council.

Jeff Hahn cites the work of Wing Shya, Paolo Roversi and Guy Bourdin as sources of inspiration, but when it comes to shooting, Hahn likes to tune out all distractions and focus on the moment.

A new book surveys the 25 year success and phenomenon that was, and in many ways still is, the Young British Artists.

In Roger Ballen’s first solo show at a public gallery in the UK, Manchester Art Gallery presents his darkly playful and psychologically intense photography.

Exploring the world’s most famous art and design school, Art as Life is the biggest Bauhaus exhibition in the UK in 40 years.

Set in the Embankment Galleries at Somerset House, The Sony World Photography Awards exhibition presents the best of the 2012 competition.

With a resurgence in the handmade and a push for sustainability, artists are using materials in new and exciting ways. Los Carpinteros open Silence Your Eyes this spring at Kunstmuseum Thun.

Photography In Mexico, now on at SFMOMA, showcases more than 150 works by Mexican photographers as well as American and European artists who found Mexico to be a place of inspiration.

In his latest series, Behind Open Doors, Creedon spent six weeks in Havana studying the complex and dynamic relationships of families.

Karl Markovics discusses his latest film, about 19-year-old Roman Kogler, who takes on a probation job where he must confront the truth about his past.

National identity in music is a hugely complex subject. Where you come from doesn’t just shape the music you make; it shapes how people perceive it and you.

Gerald McMaster is one of the Artistic Directors of the Biennale of Sydney 2012. Along with his co-curator, Catherine de Zegher, created an event that re-examines wider narratives.

Black Pond is a highly original and poignant narrative, which examines the family dynamic through the eyes of one lonely character and the Thompson family.

Since their last album, School of Seven Bells has shrunk from a trio to a duo. Their latest album Ghostory makes a bold statement: the band is very much alive.

Acclaimed visual artist, David Shrigley, brings his popular characters to life in Pass the Spoon, a collaboration with Nicholas Bone and David Fennessy.

Patrick Keiller’s most recent project brings the imaginary to life in a very real and concrete way. Robinson, the enigmatic scholar, seeks to explain the current economic and social condition.

I Myself Have Seen It: Photography and Kiki Smith is the product of a decade-long conversation between independent Curator Elizabeth Brown and the artist, examining a little-known body of work.

Cities are often described as living organisms; viewed as subject rather than object. Matthew Picton engages with this traditional of humanising the city by deconstructing the clean.

David Hall is a formative figure in time-based art. Credited with introducing the term “time-based media” into circulation, he followed this by creating the first British course in the subject.

Tina Hage is a London-based artist. She grew up in Düsseldorf and studied at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne until 2004 and then completed her Masters in Fine Art at Goldsmiths in 2009.

The 32nd edition of The AIPAD Photography Show New York will open this Thursday 29 March. It promises to be a fantastic show with new work by Philip-Lorca diCorcia from David Zwirner.

This month Dublin’s Gallery of Photography plays host to the work of two esteemed photographers – Sebastião Salgado and Per-Anders Pettersson.

Massimo Nolletti’s exhibition is a wonderful celebration of the sounds and vibrations of everyday life. This series of work represents the endless possibilities of photography in an urban setting.

An immobile red hatchback, front smashed against a skewed road sign, blares out hypnotic and maniacal club anthems from its boasting stereo system.