THE Hindu Festival of Colours, Holi Mela, is to be celebrated by the India Australia Association at Stage 88 from 11am on March 26.

THE entertainment includes belly dancing, Bollywood dance and a choreographed fashion parade. Entry is free and food, drink and most important, colours, will be available at nominal prices.

Events:

THE Great Easter Egg Trail at Old Parliament House from 9am – 12pm this Easter Sunday will unveil four brand new trails will take attendees on an exciting journey of discovery inside historic Old Parliament House. Find the clues, crack the code and be rewarded with delicious chocolate Easter eggs. The Gecko Gang will be hosting an array of fun kids’ activities from 9:30am – 2:30pm.

Arts Business:

ANCA Gallery is now calling out for exhibition proposals for the first half of its 2017 program. emerging and established, local and interstate artists and curators are encouraged to apply. The deadline for proposals for this round is 5pm Thursday 31 March 2016. To access the application form and more information about exhibiting at ANCA Gallery, please go to: anca.net.au/applications/

APPLICATIONS are now open for the Playing Field Studio 2016 Community Arts Residency Program. Successful applicants will have unlimited access to a studio space for seven days or a term block (10 weeks for two hours a week over Term 3 or 4). A budget of up to $500 for materials and equipment. Submissions close at 5:00 pm on Friday, May 2 to playingfieldstudio@gmail.com or call 0468 749 711 for an application form and more information.

BELCONNEN Arts Centre Exhibition call out or 2017 offers a dynamic exhibition program supporting artists to exhibit for four weeks in the Gallery, Foyer, Arts Lounge and Outdoor Galleries. Proposals are welcomed from both Canberra and further nationally. Applications to belconnenartscentre.com.au close on April 1. 

Workshops:

SCHOOL students will have the opportunity during the upcoming Easter Holidays to take part in a three day workshop will give students the chance to write and shoot their first short film with guidance and instruction from Canberra filmmaker Daniel Sanguineti, producer of the feature film “Me and My Mates vs the Zombie Apocalypse.” At Canberra Technology Park (CTP) in Watson, info at daniel@sanguinetimedia.com.au

ACTING for the Fun of It courses are for adults who wish to develop their creativity through exploration of drama and theatre skills. The courses are TQI (Teacher Quality Institute) accredited and teachers are able to count the 12 hours of each course towards their 20 required hours of professional development. The first course for 2016, “Acting for the Fun of It” will commence on April 25, 7 p.m. – 9pm. (changed time) at ImproACT studios in Civic between 7 and 9 p.m. The course comprises 6 x 2 hour sessions on consecutive Mondays. Information and enrolments from tutor peterbwilkins@aol.com or peterwilkins@grapevine.com.au phone on 0408 034 373.

Prizes and Awards:

THE Sunshine Coast Art Prize 2016 offers a prize pool of more than $35,000, with $25,000 in cash and a Hinterland art-studio getaway in the first prize package. Online entries are open until 5pm on Friday, April 15. Finalists will be selected and showcased in an exhibition at Caloundra Regional Gallery from August 18 to October 2. For terms and conditions of entry, visit gallery.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au

REGIONAL Australia’s richest and most prestigious opera prize, the Noosa-based Dame Joan Sutherland Vocal Competition Award 2016, will see applicants auditioning  live before a panel of adjudicators on Sunday, June 5 at Griffith University Conservatorium of Music in Brisbane. First prize is $15,000, Margreta Elkins Award is $4000, Judges Encouragement Award $1000, People’s Choice $750 and an Audition Encouragement Award $300. Applications close 5pm Friday April 29, entry form from nfa.org.au

AUSTRALIA’S biggest student film competition, “Screen It” is open registrations from students and teachers. The 2016 theme has just been announced as ‘Mystery’, and the competition is free and open to all Australian primary and secondary school students, all info at acmi.net.au/screen-it

ENTRIES for the 2016 Australian Catholic University Prize for Poetry are now welcome, with writers from all over the country competing for the coveted first prize. The $7,000 ACU Prize for Poetry will be awarded for outstanding poetry with the theme “Loving Kindness.” information at acu.edu.au 

Films:

BANGARRA’S Stephen Page makes his feature film directorial debut with the vibrant dance film, “Spear” (2015, PG, 84mins)depicting the journey of young Aboriginal man Djali (Hunter Page-Lochard) as he comes to understand what it means to be a man. It co-stars Aaron Pedersen and dancers from Bangarra Dance Theatre. Screening Arc cinema, extended into April 8. details at nfsa.gov.au/whats-on/

THE 27th edition of the Alliance Française French Film Festival runs at Palace Cinemas, NewActon, until March 29. All details and bookings to palacecinemas.com.au/

Concerts and gigs:

THE National Folk Festival has a Swinging Sixties dress-up Day on Easter Sunday, March 27 to mark the event’s 50th anniversary—and a huge lineup of over 200 gigs, dance events and community activities. All details at folkfestival.org.au

FOUR Winds 2016 Easter Festival, Bermagui, March 22-27.  Staged in the Sound Shell and Windsong Pavilion at Bermagui, it has become a drawcard for lovers of classical music. Bookings and program at fourwinds.com.au or call 6493 3414.

Exhibitions:

“25 YEARS in Wamboin” is a retrospective exhibition of the Churchers’ (Roy and Betty)  life in art during their years living at Wamboin (1989 – 2015), curated by their son Paul. The exhibition encompasses paintings by Roy and a display of Betty’s original sketches for her final book “The Forgotten Notebook”. The intimate gallery space is tucked away behind the family vineyard. Opens 4pm Easter Saturday, March 16, and continues 67 Merino Vale Drive Wamboin – off Norton Road from Easter Sunday, March 27 to Sunday, April 3, daily 10am – 4pm.

OPENING today, Thursday March 24 at M16 Artspace in Griffith announces ‘Look at Me’ a collection of paintings, ceramics and papier mache by four artists who live on the Far South Coast, “The Lost Plans” by painter Yanni Pounartzis, interpreting Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin’s original plans for the capital, and “Perceptions, Connections,” a group of artists who double as volunteer guides at the National Gallery of Australia respond to a works in the NGA’s collection and “Attitudes” Rick Cochrane’s print investigations of the human form in action. 

“RETRONAUTS” is an exhibition of new works on paper by Leah Bullen and Sara Roberts, curated by Kathleen Linn, interrogating the relationship between painting and photography. For both artists, photography acts as a kind of stepping stone, a way to move between the real world and the imaginary world created in their work. At ANCA Gallery 1 Rosevear Place Dickson 12pm-5pm Wednesday-Sunday until April 3. (left) Leah Bullen, Treasure Island II (detail), (right) Sara Roberts, By the Sea, 2016, oil on paper

AN exhibition of artwork by 7yr old Ryan Bevan is a gallery@bcs, Belconnen Community Centre, Swanson Court, Belconnen Until April 1, Mon – Fri 8am-4:30pm. Ryan is seven years old and has been drawing and painting since he was four years old. He loves drawing cartoons and painting. He also loves colouring in cartoons of Spiderman and changing them to other cartoon super heroes.

‘BODY Politic’ is an exhibition of new works by Melissa Cameron, which have all been conceived and created since her move to Seattle in the USA in 2012. Most works in the exhibition belong to the Escalation Series, which charts through wearable works, the history of various weapon technologies. At Bilk Gallery For contemporary metal and glass Palmerston Lane Manuka until April 17.

FORM Studio and Gallery now has “Past in the Present and the Future”, in which Valerie Kirk shows new work in drawing, collage and textiles exploring the past as an imaginary space that impacts on our present and future. At 1/30 Aurora Avenue, Queanbeyan, Monday – Friday 9.30am – 2.30pm,Saturday &Sunday 10.00am – 4.00pm until March 28. Valerie Kirk Collage Detail mixed media

“BARBARA Hanrahan: Words + Art” exhibits prints and prose of artist and writer Hanrahan, assembling pieces FROM UNSW Canberra and UNSW art collection, at ADFA Northcott Drive, Campbell 9am to 5pm until June 17.

ORGANIC and architectural, Carla Wolf’s sculptures involve rotating shapes composed of lines and have a simplicity that belie her rigorous making methods as she works with different clay mixtures, often with paper fibre and/or Perlite added. The work has been made during her artistic residency at Watson Arts Centre, where the exhibition is showing at Watson Arts Centre 10am to 4pm until April 17.

“THE Foundations of Place” displays a series of still life paintings by former Tuggeranong Youth Art Award winner and ANU School of Art graduate Hayley Lander that features pruned branches from local gardens. At the Canberra Contemporary Art Space (CCAS) in Manuka until March 27.

IT’S part of “Blaze Ten”, curated by Sara D’Alessandro Manozzo sees includes the work of 9 artists: Joel Arthur, Reid Bedlington, Christopher Burton, Hayley Lander, Dierdre Pearce, Millan Pintos-Lopez, Elliot Schultz, Kael Stasce and Julia Thwaites. Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Gorman Arts Centre 55 Ainslie Avenue, Braddon, Tuesday to Friday 11am to 5pm and Saturdays 10am to 4pm until March 24.

“Terraforming Expo” by Knees is an exhibition of large scale, multi-colour reduction woodblock relief prints including a large scale cardboard vehicle model by Canberra based artist ‘Knees’. At Megalo Print Studio + Gallery 21 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston, Tuesday – Saturday 9.30am – 5.00pm until April 2.

NANCY Sever Gallery at 6 Kennedy Street Kingston has “Scylla and Charybdis”, works by Wilma Tabacco, until April 3, Wed-Sun, 11 to 6.

“FERAL: Rewilding Furniture”, features new works constructed from found timber by Ashley Jameson Eriksmoen, Head of Furniture at the ANU School of Art. Having completed her M.F.A in Furniture Design at Rhode Island School of Design. She has also worked in several design and woodworking studios across the world, including California, Oregon, Colorado, North Carolina, Norway and Australia. Her exhibition is at the Gallery of Australian Design, 47 Jardine St Kingston, Mon-Fri, 9am to 5pm Sat, and 11am to 2pm until April 2. Closed Good Friday & Easter Monday

IN its newest show, Canberra Museum and Gallery aims to further the enjoyment of the complexity of the nature of the Canberra region and our ‘bush capital’, in photos, paintings, sculpture, natural history illustration and drawing, scientific specimens and audio-visual material and a program of walks and talks, which can be found at cmag.com.au “Bush Capital: the natural history of the ACT,” CMAG, until June 26.

“SUNLIGHT and Shadows,” books and artworks on paper by Jill Clingan is at Strathnairn Gallery, Griffith, “I love to share with people the beauties I see around me – to convey with my art a sense of joy and hope in life,” she says. Meantime in Gallery 2 are ceramics by Trenna Langdon, both exhibitions, 90 Stockdill Drive Holt, Thurs – Sun 10 – 4, March 24 – April 17.

THE Friends’ Botanic Art Group’s Art Exhibition is in full swing at the Visitor Centre, Australian National Botanical Gardens until April 17.

THE Canberra Centre has an interactive installation showing opposite Apple on Level 1. The hands-on live artwork – titled A Canberra Story –incorporates projectors, conductive ink, temperature light and motion sensors to reveal a magical story set across various well known Canberra locations. Open to public.

KAREN O’Clery’s Narek Galleries has drinks with the artist Ros Auld at 1140 Tathra-Bermagui Rd TANJA Friday March 25 from 4pm, all welcome.

DIFFERENT Strokes Art Group has a show reflecting the artists’ experience of life in Canberra, “Canberra Inside and Out” at Sweet Copper, Old Ginninderra Schoolhouse, O’Hanlon Place, Gold Creek until March 27.

CANBERRA Glassworks has been busy playing with marbles, and in their newest show, they’ll be showing off the responses to this humble yet technically demanding glass art form by nine artists from across Australia. “Collecting Nostalgia,” at Canberra Glassworks to April 24.

CRAFT ACT: Craft and Design Centre’s exhibition, “Emerging Contemporaries” showcases the work of 2015’s outstanding graduate students and emerging craft practitioners and designer makers from across Australia. At Craft + Design Centre Gallery, Level 1 North Building, 180 London Circuit. Also showing in the same space are solo exhibitions from local artists Mi-Kyung Myung and Meredith Hughes. Showing in the Crucible showcase are Bula’bula arts early career artists Marley and Linda Malibirr from the Ramingining community. Tuesday to Friday 10am-5pm + Saturday 12pm-4pm, until March 26.