Make sure you...

visit... The manifestation of American culture at the Barbican's Inventing America. A year-long exhibition should make a dent in the country which has cultures from all over the world and gives them its own unique twang. For performance details, call the Box Office on 0171-638 8891. At the Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2.

see... A moment between war and peace. De Dam 7 Mei reveals a set of photographs that tells the story of one tragic incident in the liberation of Amsterdam at the end of the Second World War. When photographers and cameramen gathered in Dam Square, Holland, to record the liberation celebrations, the German forces opened fire on the crowd. Sixteen photographers documented the attack on the crowd from different positions, and their work has been drawn together to form this minute-by-minute account. The Photographers Gallery, 5 & 8 Great Newport WC2H 7HY (0171-831 1772). Admission free.

hear... ENO's first production of the classic The Elixir of Love. Young director Jude Kelly directs her first opera, Donizetti's comedy about a lovesick peasant, a quack doctor and a phoney love-potion. London Coliseum, St Martin's Lane, London WC2 (0171-632 8300).