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.