25+ things to do this weekend in Canberra
Posted on
This weekend enjoy the final days of National Science Week, immerse yourself in the history of Aussie drag—in concert—and of course, explore the markets.
Here’s what you can’t miss.
NINE THINGS YOU CAN’T MISS…
ShakeSoc presents Coriolanus
Honour. Glory. Duty. Betrayal. Masterfully reinterpreting Shakespeare’s tragedy Coriolanus, Canberra locals Madeleine Smith and Pip Wager explore conceptions of masculinity in Australian sporting culture. Come see the fury and cunning of a Roman army distilled into a high school rugby team—it’s Shakespeare like you’ve never seen it.
Until Saturday 20 August | Cultural Centre Kambri ANU Building 153 | facebook.com/events
National Science Week
Celebrate all things science across Canberra with fun events for all ages! Showcasing the amazing science happening right here in the nation’s capital, the week long series of events range from making DNA out of a balloon, to guided nature walks, to a sex on the beach science show and an expo to showcase STEM in gaming.
Until Sunday 21 August | Various locations | inspiringtheact.org
Poetry Month ACT Showcase
Red Room Poetry’s Poetry Month is an exciting program with the aim to increase access, awareness and visibility of poetry in all its forms and for all audiences, including a poetic showcase in every state and territory.
August is @redroompoetry ‘s Poetry Month and they’re celebrating with a showcase in every state and territory! The ACT Showcase is this Sunday at 2pm at the National Gallery of Australia, featuring a blazing line-up of poetic talent including Canberra Slam founder Andrew Cox, Jeanine Leane, Zhi Yi Cham, Sandra Renew and more!
Saturday 20 August | National Gallery of Australia | redroompoetry.org
Demented
Demented is the latest work by acclaimed ACT theatre-maker and published Playwright (Under My Bed) Ruth Pieloor, who, inspired by her deeply personal experience, turns her magic-realism trademark into an oddly comic, yet breath-taking and touching realisation of Dementia.
An exciting collaboration with local and regional artists, this unique production intercepts playful clowning, exquisite puppetry, dramatic dialogue, and an original score, to share a heroine’s captivating relationship with dementia. We meet Rachel, the mother, the daughter, the carer, the lover, the artist, and gently take her hand as she unravels new challenges in her family’s tapestry of memories, and the legacy it leaves in its wake.
Until Saturday 20 August | The Q, Queanbeyan | theq.net.au
Prada Clutch’s: All-Drag Revue
Flanked by gorgeous men, Australia’s six-foot something songstress Prada Clutch & her ‘girls’ pay tribute to the history of Aussie drag – in concert. That’s right, sing along to classic disco hits and sashay into today with a celebration of chart-topping music icons that have inspired drag performers around the world, with Prada Clutch (one of Australia’s most in demand live-singing drag queens) headlining the show.
Saturday 20 August | Canberra Theatre Centre | canberratheatrecentre.com
Choices in Childbirth
Are you expecting? Have you considered a doula? The Canberra Doulas are holding monthly information sessions for all those expecting to find out more about what a doula is and all that they can offer during pregnancy, birth, and beyond. Learn how a doula can support you in preparation for your birth and how they can also assist you once you bring your baby home.
Saturday 20 August | Tulips Cafe, Piallago | Facebook.com
Fire of Love
Katia and Maurice Krafft had a burning passion for two things – each other, and volcanoes. When geochemist Katia and geologist Maurice met in 1966, sparks flew immediately. In the decades that followed, the intrepid and unconventional scientists devoted themselves to their shared obsession: chasing lava around the world. Unfazed by extreme heat, acid lakes and flying boulders in their quest to film volcanoes up close, their pioneering research has helped save countless lives and resulted in some of the most spectacular natural imagery ever recorded. Narrated by Miranda July, their terrifyingly beautiful images — and red hot love story — are not to be missed on the big screen.
Sunday 21 August, 3 pm | Dendy Cinemas, Level 2, North Quarter, Canberra Centre | dendy.com
Flazeda
Flazeda is running an open day with FREE classes all day! See what makes each class unique and how they’ll maximise your learning experience, with welcoming facilities and vibrant social spaces. There’s no better way to see firsthand what sets Flazeda apart from other performing arts schools. Why not make a day of it? There’ll be market stalls, drinks and food as well!
Sunday 21 August | Flazeda, Belconnen | flazedahub.com
Australian Defence Force Academy Open Day
Interested in learning more about the Australian Defence Force? Following a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) Open Day is back! Explore the campus, meet with Navy midshipmen and Army and Air Force officers and learn about life study at the Academy. For those unable to attend the Open Day event in Canberra, a virtual Open Day can also be accessed through Defence Jobs Australia – Australian Defence Force Academy
Saturday 20 August, 9am – 4pm | Australian Defence Force Academy, Northcott Drive, Campbell | defencejobs.gov.au
MUSIC + STAGE
This is Now album launch
Highly-regarded creative talent Milena Luna is an award winning singer-songwriter, poet, and author who lost her home, instruments, compositions and beloved parrots in the bushfires on New Year’s Eve 2019. Out of adversity, Milena has produced a heartfelt album and now she’s coming to Canberra to launch it. The album features outstanding musicians from Canberra, the South Coast, and Brisbane and is Milena’s finest work to date as she shares her personal journey towards recovery.
Saturday 20 August, 7 pm – 9 pm | Smiths Alternative, 76 Alinga St, Canberra | smithsalternative.com
This is Now
Rising from the ashes of the Mallacoota Bushfires, a poignant album by Milena Luna (Cifali) is launching at Smiths Alternative. Highly regarded creative talent Milena Luna is an award winning singer-songwriter, poet, and author who lost her home, instruments, compositions and beloved parrots in the bushfires on New Year’s Eve 2019. Out of adversity, Milena has produced a heartfelt album, sharing her personal journey towards recovery. The album showcases Milena’s considerable song writing talents creating a stirring work. At its heart is the search for home and a never fading hope.
Saturday 20 August | Smith’s Alternative | smithsalternative.com.au
Eireborne
Following sold-out shows across Australia and Europe, Eireborne is coming to Canberra with their highly fuelled 100 per cent live rock-show production which celebrates the rebirth of Irish dance. With a contemporary twist like you’ve never seen before, 15 world-class Irish dancers from International Irish shows will fill the stage with a fusion of Irish dance, tap rhythms and beats, resulting in a stunningly new experience with a raw and traditional Irish flavour.
Saturday 20 August | Canberra Theatre Centre | canberratheatrecentre.com
The Resilience Project
Coming to the Canberra Theatre Centre, The Resilience Project’s previously sold-out Public Talks give everyone a chance to learn positive mental health strategies which help us become happier and more resilient.
Sunday 21 August | Canberra Theatre Centre | canberratheatrecentre.com
Harbhajan Mann- The Marvellous Tour
Canadian star of Punjabi Music and Cinema, Harbhajan Mann, is coming to Queanbeyan! He has been performing for decades, starting in the 80’s performing in local shows for the South Asian community while attending high school in Canada. His goal is to create music that will live for decades, and he has done just that.
Sunday 21 August | The Q, Queanbeyan | theq.net.au
EXHBITIONS
Here’s looking at you Canberra
Spending the past two years locked into Canberra Val Johnson has created a stunning exhibition featuring the Canberra area through paintings and mosaics. The paintings are not photographic versions of the landscape but as she sees it- shape, colour and pattern, and she also uses linear lines which run through the composition. Val’s mosaics also follow her style of painting, to form works of places around Canberra. She calls her mosaics ‘freestyle’ as she uses a non-conventional way of working.
Until Sunday 21 August | Strathnairn Arts | strathnairn.com.au
Of Soap And Stone
Bringing together the work of three early career artists—Kati Gorgenyi, Fran Romano and Melinda Brouwer—Of Soap And Stone showcases an immersive and reflective experience which engages with notions of remembrance, memorialisation, and the ephemerality of life. The exhibition experience will be enhanced by an interactive public program. On weekends, artists will encourage gallery visitors to engage with the artworks and themes by making clay votives. These offerings will become part of the exhibition, developing into an ephemeral installation that will remain in the gallery courtyard to decompose.
Until Sunday 11 September | ANCA Gallery, 1 Rosevear Place, Dickson | anca.net
Come Back, All is Forgiven
Inviting a selection of these now mid-career artists to return to where they first cut their teeth as fresh-faced graduates—the Canberra Contemporary Art Space—you can enjoy a slice of their work from then, and what they’re doing now. Featuring Justin Andrews, Stuart Bailey, Leah Bullen, Trevelyan Clay, Helen Shelley, Noël Skryzpczak and Bryan Spier, expect a beautiful range of art from the late nineties and the naughties.
Until Sunday 28 August | 44 Queen Elizabeth Terrace, Parkes | ccas.com
Gardens Near and Far
The botanic gardens are welcoming a new exhibition for August. Gardens near and far feature artworks from Ruth Dodd. The exhibition depicts flora and landscapes inspired from visits to public, private and overseas gardens and from the artist’s local region of Yass, NSW.
Ruth’s art is representational, working from close observation and the use of colour to dramatise essential elements.
Until Thursday 28 August | Australian National Botanic Gardens | parksaustralia.gov.au
Reception this way: motels – a sentimental journey with Tim Ross
Travel around Australia revisiting your memories of the classic Aussie motel, from family holidays and long road trips to continental breakfasts and mid-century mod-cons.
In a land where the car has provided us with the ultimate freedom to hit the road and explore, it is no surprise that Australians wholeheartedly embraced the American concept of the motel. When motels began springing up in the 1950s, they represented a new, stylish and sophisticated way to travel.
Join National Archives and Tim Ross on a driving holiday through the quintessential Australian experience of staying in a motel. And find out why these images are part of the National Archives’ collection.
This exhibition is supported by the National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach Program, an Australian Government program aiming to improve access to the national collections for all Australians.
Until Sunday 4 Sep 2022 | National Archives of Australia | naa.gov.au
An Aboriginal Culinary Journey
See First Nations objects from the National Museum of Australia’s collection alongside a newly commissioned range of appliances featuring stunning designs from contemporary artists in An Aboriginal Culinary Journey: Designed for Living.
Part of the Breville Art Series, this exhibition is a partnership between First Nations peoples, Breville and the National Museum of Australia, producing objects for the heart of the home that celebrate contemporary design and reflect 65,000 years of ongoing Indigenous culture.
Until Sunday 18 September | National Museum of Australia | nma.gov.au
Connection
Yes, that’s right, the creators and producers of the multi-sensory spectacular that was Van Gough alive are back and back with a vengeance. Connection is reinventing visual storytelling, giving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists a voice through 360-degree, large-scale projections and cutting-edge light and sound technology. A powerful and captivating exhibition that seeks to bind together spiritual connections to land, water, sea and sky through a vibrant and multi-sensory symphony of sound, light, and colour, it’s an important and much-needed tonal shift that we all should be popping on the top of our must-see June lists.
Until Sunday 9 October | National Museum of Australia | nma.gov.au/whats-on/connection
The Darling Portrait Prize and National Photographic Portrait Prize
Head along to the National Portrait Gallery of Australia to view the 2022 Darling Portrait Prize and the National Photographic Portrait Prize. Your ticket gets you into both, so what are you waiting for?
Until Sunday 9 October | National Portrait Gallery | portrait.gov.au
Belonging: Stories from Far North Queensland
The first in a three-part series, this exhibition captures generations of cultural knowledge shaped by the diverse First Nations peoples who live there and their connection to Country. Enjoy the established and emerging artists from across Far North Queensland and the Torres Strait as they explore art using new materials and techniques as they share what it means to belong.
Until Sunday 12 February 2023 | National Museum of Australia | nma.gov.au
Unpredictable: An Exploration of Soda Vapour Glazing 2004-2022
Unpredictable: An Exploration of Soda Vapour Glazing 2004-2022 explores the progression of Maryke Henderson’s development of surface and form over a period of 18 years, starting while a student at ANU. Described as a journey of discovery of this difficult yet exciting process using the paths of flame and vapours to decorate the surface by the use of various clay bodies and slips, it’s a unique take on functional ware.
Until Sunday 11 September | Canberra Potters, 1 Aspinall St Watson | canberrapotters.com.au
And then of course there are the markets…
Old Bus Depot Markets
With more than 100 stalls (including your old favourites), you’ll have the chance to shop for a brilliant variety of Australian-made, handcrafted and premium products. Sneak a walk around the foreshore while you’re down there.
9.30 am – 2.30 pm Sunday | Wentworth Avenue, Kingston | obdm.com.au
Capital Region Farmers Markets
With more than 100 stallholders each week, the Capital Region Farmers Market at EPIC Park has endless options when it comes to freshly picked, grown and handcrafted produce.
Fill the garden using their great selection of native and landscape plants, fruit trees, seedlings and shrubs or fill your stomach with freshly baked bread, cakes, macarons and croissants.
7 am–11.30 am Saturday | Exhibition Park in Canberra | capitalregionfarmersmarket.com.au
Southside Farmers Markets
This village market is located at Canberra College, making it the perfect place to duck in to grab what you need (and maybe a few things you don’t). Order an egg and bacon roll to start the morning as you explore the best of fresh seasonal veggies, handmade pasta and pet treats.
8 am–11.30 am Sunday | 2 Launceston Street, Phillip | facebook.com
