AUSTRIA

ART/PHOTOGRAPHY/FILM: Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Museum of Modern Art in Vienna dedicates an exhibit to gender roles and feminism in Eastern European art from the 1960s to nowadays. "Gender check" will feature some 400 pieces from 70 artists -- from paintings and photographs to films and sculptures -- on November 13 and 14, accompanied by talks and discussions. www.mumok.at

BELGIUM

FESTIVAL: In Brussels and other Belgian cities, the country's Europalia cultural festival marks its 40th birthday with a programme involving some 450 shows and around 50 exhibitions focused on 5,000 years of Chinese history. Among the events, "Poem of Kung fu -- Nine Scrolls", a historical and cultural odyssey from Beijing combining kung fu and dancing. Through to February 14, to mark the Chinese New Year. www.europalia.eu

CLIMATE CHANGE: In the lead up to the Copenhagen climate summit in December, Belgium's Tour and Taxis exhibition centre hosts "It's our Earth 2: From Kyoto to Copenhagen".

Spread over more than 2,500 m2, the show is divided into four parts, the history of the earth, the arrival of mankind, the evolution of ecosystems and solutions to the effects of people.

Large parts are interactive and instructive, making it ideal for children or adults. Until March 28. www.expo-terra.be

BRITAIN

MUSEUM: Oxford's Ashmolean Museum is due to reopen on November 7 after a major redevelopment. The museum, which opened in 1683, is run by Oxford University and contains a stunning collection of paintings and artefacts. www.ashmolean.org/

MUSIC: London Jazz Festival takes place from November 13-22. Highlights include performances from Branford Marsalis, Chick Corea, Gilberto Gil and Sonny Rollins. www.londonjazzfestival.org.uk/

AUCTION: A large auction of artefacts from the Chinese cultural revolution at Bloomsbury Auctions in London. Highlights include political posters and porcelain figures of Mao Zedong. Takes place November 5.
www.bloomsburyauctions.com/

AUCTION: A collection of paintings and prints belonging to film director Richard Attenborough being sold off on November 11 at Sotheby's in London. Including works by LS Lowry, Henry Moore and Graham Sutherland. www.sothebys.com

FINLAND

ART: Dance theatre Hurjaruuth's Winter Circus Tuike combines music, circus and air acrobatics. The new show presents Maria Romunova and members of her junk court who are getting ready for Christmas when a couple who have lost the sparkle from their lives moves in and causes confusion in the house. At Kaapelitehdas from November 3 to January 6. www.hurjaruuth.fi

FRANCE

AUCTION: The second final chapter in "the sale of the century" takes place November 17 to 20 when works in the YSL-Pierre Berge collection, one of the world's great private collections, go under the hammer. A Fernand Leger painting and Yves Saint Laurent's last Mercedes-Benz automobile and Hermes luggage are among items in the sale, far smaller than the February auction that fetched 342.5 million euros (491.9 million dollars) in the biggest private art sale in history. www.christies.com/eCatalogues

ARCHEOLOGY: Some 500 items dragged up from the bed of the Rhone river by diver-archeologists over the last 20 years, including a marble bust of Julius Caesar believed to be the oldest representation of the Roman emperor yet known, on show in the southern town he founded in 46 BC, Arles. The show runs until September 2010.

BOOKS: Paris' medieval museum, the Musee de Cluny, has unusually agreed to fete the 50th birthday of tiny Gallic comic book hero Asterix. The show on the first century BC warrior who fought off the mighty Roman occupiers of ancient Gaul runs until January 3. www.musee-moyenage.fr

GERMANY

MUSIC/HISTORY: Irish megastars U2 give a free open-air concert as part of celebrations to mark the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago. The concert will be aired live during the MTV European Music Awards. November 5. www.u2.com

Large crowds are due at the "Freedom Party" at the Brandenburg Gate to fete the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Highlights will include an open-air recital by the Berlin State Opera House and its orchestra with Israeli-Argentinian conductor Daniel Barenboim. November 9. www.mauerfall09.de

PHOTOGRAPHY: Also on the fall of the Berlin Wall, an exhibition of photos by Karl-Ludwig Lange titled "The divided city -- Topography of the Berlin Wall". Starts November 4 to May 9. www.kunst-im-bundestag.de

OPERA: Italian diva Bartoli launches a European tour in Baden-Baden on November 8 dedicated to her latest album "Sacrificium" (Decca/Universal), which is a homage to the "castrati" performers of 18th century Naples. She then goes on to Amsterdam (10), Cologne (13), Brussels (15 and 17) Paris (20 and 22) and London (24). www.ceciliabartolionline.com

EXHIBITION: Two hundred years after his birth, a new exhibition at Berlin's Communications Museum celebrates the life and work of Frenchman Louis Braille, who invented the system of writing for blind people still in use today. To December 13. www.mfk-berlin.de

HUNGARY

ART: Budapest's Museum of Fine Arts presents from October 28 to February 14 a comprehensive exhibit featuring some of the greatest names in Italian Renaissance painting. Entitled "Botticelli to Titian - Masterpieces of Two Centuries of Italian Painting," the exposition will include some 130 paintings from over 80 masters, including Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Veronese. Pieces have been loaned from over 50 museums from the Louvre in Paris, the Uffizi in Florence, the National Gallery of London and the Prado of Madrid. www.szepmuveszeti.hu

NORWAY

MUSIC: Oslo World Music Festival, featuring Brazilian singer Gilberto Gil, Mali's Oumou Sangare, Mongolian quartet Huun-Huur-Tu and Nigerian drummer Tony Allen. November 3 to 8 at concert venues around Oslo. www.osloworldmusicfestival.no

PORTUGAL

FILM: The resort town of Estoril outside Lisbon holds its film festival for only third time, with 12 European movies in competition for best film. Directors Jacques Audiard, Francis Ford Coppola and David Cronenberg will be attending as well as French actress Juliette Binoche, who will be guest star at the opening ceremony November 5 after opening an exhibition in her honour. www.estoril-filmfestival.com

RUSSIA

DANCE/HISTORY: Exhibition titled "Ghost of Dance" remembers the early 20th century Ballets Russes run by Serge de Diaghilev, with costumes, drawings and photographs on loan from museums and private collections the world over. At the Tretiakov gallery until January 31. www.tretyakovgallery.ru

ART: Moscow's Modern Art Museum gathers works from the Soviet underground from the 1960s through the 1980s in a show titled Solitary Artists On a Quest For The Meaning Of Life. Runs until November 29. www.mmoma.ru

SPAIN

ARTS/FESTIVAl: Madrid's Autumn Festival of the performing arts features music, dance theatre and circus performances by 32 companies from around the world, from November 4 to 29. www.madrid.org/fo/2009/es/index.html

Titirijai, the International Puppet Festival in Tolosa, in the northern Basque Country, attracts professional puppeteers from companies around the world, from November 28 to December 6. www.cittolosa.com

MUSIC: The 26th edition of the Madrid Jazz Festival features 17 concerts across the city, including a 50th anniversary tribute to Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" album with the participation of Jimmy Cobb, the only surviving member from the original recording, from November 4 to 28. www.esmadrid.com/festivaljazzmadrid

The Granada Jazz Festival features Branford Marsalis, Cassandra Wilson and Dave Holland among others, from November 7 to 22. www.jazzgranada.es

ART/SEX: The Fondacion Caja Madrid and Thyssen-Bornemisza museums explore how eroticism inspired works of art, from paintings and sculptures to photographs and videos. The roughly 120 items include a painting by Pablo Picasso, a sculpture by Auguste Rodin and a photograph by Man Ray. Until January 31. www.museothyssen.org/thyssen/home and www.fundacioncajamadrid.es

SWEDEN

EXHIBIT/HISTORY: "The Laundry Room", an exhibit about collective laundry facilities in Swedish apartment buildings, explaining their origins dating back to the 1920s, how they are often a source of neighbourly conflict, and featuring angry but amusing notes posted by neighbours. At Nordiska Museet. From November 6 to March 2010. www.nordiskamuseet.se

FILM: 20th annual Stockholm International Film Festival, featuring 180 films from some 50 countries, including seven world premieres. November 18 to 29 at various cinemas in Stockholm. www.stockholmfilmfestival.se

SWITZERLAND

ART: Bern's Kunstmuseum is showing around 100 works by Giovanni Giacometti, father of painter-sculptor Alberto Giacometti and sculptor Diego Giacometti. Born in 1868 in Stampa, Giacometti liked to portray grand mountain scenery and enjoyed strong colours. Until February 21. www.kunstmuseumbern.ch

AFP/Expatica