By India Sturgis

MAXXI OPENING
ROME

The world’s most visited city for classical art and architecture finally gets a dazzling monument to modernity when Italy’s National Museum of XXI Century Arts (MAXXI), designed by architect Zaha Hadid, opens on 30 May.

Nine years and €150m in the building, the spectacular maze of glass, steel and concrete is expected to be tourist draw in its own right, while inside it will display collections of 21st-century visual arts through four inaugural exhibitions.

More than 130 works by key Italian contemporary artist Gino De Dominicis will be on show, the most exhaustive retrospective ever of the art legend, in an exhibition called The Immortal; eight video works by Turkish filmmaker Kutlug Ataman will be displayed, under the title

Mesopotamian Dramaturgies; while From Rationalism to the Informal will showcase writings and works by extrovert designer and architectural figure Luigi Moretti.

The museum will also present Space, an exhibit with 90 works from MAXXI’s Art collection exhibited along a single route winding inside and outside of the museum, including pieces by Alighiero Boetti, William Kentridge, and Giuseppe Penone. Accompanying these will be site-specific installations of 10 international architects and architectural studios, including Diller Scofidio e Renfro, Lacaton & Vassal and West 8. maxxi.beniculturali.it

MASTERPIECE LONDON
LONDON

This month a new event comes to London, and with it some priceless – and extremely expensive – reasons to visit. From 26–29 June, Masterpiece London turns the former Chelsea Barracks into a showcase for some of the world’s most covetable objects – including Faberge clocks, Asprey pink diamonds, a 1960s’ Aston Martin DB4, a 600BC Egyptian bronze cat, and a 1932 Grand Prix Bugatti – with visitors even able to make offers on some items (the Bugatti starts at €3.5m). Created by dealers Thomas Woodham Smith of Mallett, Simon Phillips of Ronald Phillips, Harry Apter of Apter Fredericks and Robert Procop of Asprey, the fair will display items from around the world with the aim of re-establishing London as an epicentre for art, design and culture.

The quality doesn’t stop at the objects on show; on-site restaurants include satellites of The Ivy, Harry’s Bar and Le Caprice. www.masterpiecefair.com

SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK
NEW YORK

Central Park’s Delacorte Theater is once again the outdoor stage for this annual festival – this time for The Merchant of Venice and A Winter’s Tale, directed by Daniel Sullivan and Michael Greif respectively.

From 9 June to 1 August, audiences can enjoy free performances, including Al Pacino as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, returning after seven years off the stage. Stars including Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman, Kevin Kline and Anne Hathaway have all appeared at Public Theater events in the past. publictheater.org

ALSO ON THIS MONTH

TEL AVIV
Israel’s leading chamber orchestra, the Camerata, is performing Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum at the Tel-Aviv Museum of Art between 25 and 27 June, under the direction of prizewinning conductor and music director Avner Biron, who founded the orchestra in 1985. www.jcamerata.com

AMSTERDAM
Last chance to catch The Breakthrough Into Modernity, an impressive Paul Gauguin collection on display at the Van Gogh Museum until 6 June. www.vangoghmuseum.nl

MOSCOW
Some of the biggest stars of Russian ballet are performing in Moscow’s Summer Ballet Festival, 25 June until 25 September. With the aim of popularising classical ballet, four celebrated groups will present famous ballets, including Swan Lake, Giselle, The Nutcracker, and The Sleeping Beauty. www.summerballet.ru

MUNICH
The Bavarian State Orchestra is expected to wow audiences at this year’s Munich Opera Festival with a not-to-be-missed rendition of the three-act Puccini opera, Tosca. The opera will premiere on 28 June and run until 19 July. www.bayerische.staatsoper.de

EDINBURGH
The Opening Gala of the long-running Edinburgh International Film Festival will present Sylvain Chomet’s magical animated film The Illusionist and is just one of the many exciting films that will be shown between 16 and 27 June. www.edfilmfest.org.uk

LUXEMBOURG
Luxembourg’s most striking art museum, MUDAM, designed by I. M. Pei, has invited eight artists to create a variety of installations, magnetic bands and projections for Sketches of Space, which runs from 19 June to 19 September. www.mudam.lu