Monocle

Something for your weekend: Monocle’s global pick of exhibitions to lose your Saturday in, CDs to soundtrack a sunny walk in the park, and a book to tuck yourself up in bed with come Sunday night.

KD Lang’s back with a suite of songs that bear out the album title, proudly. “Sing It Loud” is a confident thing that takes Lang back to the future and her alt-country roots, love, loss and “shagging on a riverbank”, as she told Monocle. Recorded in Nashville with her new collaborators (the onomatopoeically titled Siss Boom Bang), the newie’s as assured, lush and beautiful as anything in her 30-year career.
kdlang.com

Based on French comics master Jacques Tardi’s comic book, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec is Luc Besson’s first graphic novel film adaptation. Charmingly entertaining, the flick follows the adventures of Mademoiselle Blanc-Sec (think Indiana Jones meets an early 20th-century Lara Croft) in France and Egypt. It might not necessarily live up to the standards set by The Fifth Element, and it’s definitely not a “Léon” but with dazzling visual effects and ultra stylish period decors it’s still a must-see.
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec, director Luc Besson, at cinemas across the UK

Rejecting portrayals of Pakistan as a fissiparous nation, a knife edge away from a Taliban takeover, Anatol Lieven concludes that rumours of the country’s death are wildly exaggerated. Demonstrating his considerable abilities as both an academic and a journalist, Lieven combines reportage and history scholarship to show that short of a US-led invasion, the country’s fundamentally conservative social structure will staunch the tide of radicalism.

Quebecois Denis Villeneuve’s critically acclaimed Incendies opens this weekend. Set against the rugged landscapes of Daresh, a fictional country in the Middle East, the film follows a pair of twin’s journey into their mother’s mysterious past. Bold, gripping, and with powerful performances by Lubna Azabal and Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin, the film deservedly received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film this year.
Incendies, director Denis Villeneuve, limited release at selected cinemas in NYC and LA

Portuguese artist Miguel Palma’s “Assembly Line” exhibit at the Gulbenkian Foundation’s CAM is just a week old but already drawing record numbers. The mid-career retrospective with 170 pieces, including sculpture and large-scale installations, focuses on Palma’s interest in industrial and used objects, in particular his love of airplanes. Model planes appear next to a life size racing car and a trio of aquariums examining mankind’s relationship with technology.
Centro de Arte Moderna – Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Rua Dr. Nicolau de Bettencourt, Lisbon. Until 3 July, 10.00-18.00 (closed Mondays)
cam.gulbenkian.pt