THE Griffyn Ensemble’s “Six Curious Concerts” continue until September 3 (Bookings for concerts 3 and 5 (the others are free) to griffyn.iwannaticket.com.au);

• Concert 2, “Reverse Archaeology”, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Manuka, Thursday, August 31. Free. 
• Concert 3, “A Night in Hyperreality”, Canberra Contemporary Arts Space Gorman Art Centre, Braddon, Friday, September 1.
• Concert 4, “Singalong with Susan the Singsect”, Belconnen Arts Centre, 12.30pm, Saturday, September 2. Free.
• Concert 5, “Venus and the Twilight Arch,” Belconnen Arts Centre, Emu Bank, 5pm, Saturday, September 2.
• Concert 6, “Lines of Site”, M16 Artspace, Griffith, noon, Sunday, September 3.

Events:

THE Cuban Latin Fiesta in Canberra features Cuban and Latin dancers and performers from Cuba, Australia, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico, with Latin DJ DEDE from Guinea Bissau and Chilean MC Marcos Cruz Garcia. There’ll be Latin food, Cuban drinks and soft drinks in a family atmosphere. Saint James’s Church Hall, 40 Gillies Street, Curtin, 6.30pm, Saturday, September 2. Tickets at the door and children under 14 are free.

THE National Eisteddfod’s Singing Competition offers sections covering classical, spiritual, pop, musical theatre and folk song compositions across both age and grading classifications. It is running at Ainslie Arts Centre, Elouera Street, Braddon this Friday, September 1 and Saturday, September 2. Bookings to nationaleisteddfod.org.au/tickets/

THE inaugural 10 day “Sculpture on Clyde” festival running to September 3 sees artworks stalled along the foreshore near the bridge at Batemans Bay, making them also visible from the sea.

Talk:

DRILL Hall Gallery Cezanne lecture series by Terence Maloon, “The man of the south”, will be held at ANU School of Art and Design, on Level 1, which is accessible through the Childers Street entrance, at 3pm, Sunday, September 3.

SPIRAL is a non-denominational group of people who meet to hear from guest speakers. This week’s guest is Lisa Elliott from the National Archives of Australia, who will talk about the current exhibition, “The Way of the Reformer: Gough Whitlam in His Century” at the Uniting Church in Gillies Street, Curtin, 10am, Thursday, August 24. It’s a free event and inquiries to 6281 7684 or yeatsb@iinet.net.au

MUSE Café has historian Tom Griffiths discussing the craft of history with Chris Wallace. Together they’ll discuss how people’s understanding of the past is ever-evolving and what history says about humans at the East Hotel Kingston, from 3pm-4pm, Sunday, September 3. Bookings to musecanberra.com.au

Workshops and classes:

MEGALO Print Studio + Gallery has a workshop in woodcut printmaking with Julian Laffan, suitable for beginners and more experienced printmakers. The workshop will be held at 21 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston, 10am-4pm, Saturday and Sunday, September 2-3. Details and bookings at megalo.org

THE Groove Warehouse has Japanese percussion/Marimba legend Kuniko Kato (Japan) in a two-day residency, on August 31 and September 1, as part of her 2017 Australian national tour. Details and bookings to groovewarehouse.com.au/events.html or 6260 2847.

CIT Adult Short courses are held every first weekend of the month all year round at Canberra Glassworks. Costs apply and to find out more by emailing education@canberraglassworks.com.au

Arts Business:

CHRIS Latham’s “Flowers of War” project continues, with “Monet’s Flowers of War”, featuring Jane Rutter, flute, and projections of Claude Monet’s WWI paintings, coming up at the NGA on September 29 and 30, and much more in following months. Bookings to theflowersofwar.org

SOUTHERN Tablelands Arts is running a “Website Building for Creatives” course on practical web building skills for artists, creatives and NFP arts organisations, in local government areas including Queanbeyan-Palerang, September 2 and 9. Bookings to trybooking.com/QXYT

GARY France’s Groove Warehouse in Hume is expanding its percussion business and now offers daytime adult classes and keyboard lessons at 5/1 Sawmill Circuit, Hume. Information and enrolments to groovewarehouse.com.au

“MAMMA Mia!” The musical, inspired by ABBA’s classic songs, has seen over 60 million people all around the world pack in for the show. Tickets are now on sale for a new Aussie production that will premiere at the Canberra Theatre from November 24 to December 10. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.

ENTRIES are open for the Digital Portraiture Award 2017, to go on show at the National Portrait Gallery from December 1. Entrants have until midnight on September 17 to submit their digital portraits. The winner of the award will receive $10,000 cash and an artistic residency valued at $15,000 at State Library of Queensland’s community makerspace, The Edge. All details at dpa.portrait.gov.au

THE 10th Queanbeyan Art Society’s Charity Fine Art Show will take place in City Walk Canberra between King O’Malley’s Pub and the merry-go-round, from September 23 to October 2. Entries are now welcome, inquiries to the president of the society, Barry Cranston, at 0439 392709.

YOUNG Canberrans with ideas for projects, events or activities, which focus on social inclusion can now apply for the ACT government’s Youth InterACT grants of up to $1500. The grants are open to Canberrans aged 12-25 and organisations that support young Canberrans. Applications will close at midnight on September 3. Information at communityservices.act.gov.au/ocyfs/youth-interact/grants

AINSLIE and Gorman Arts Centres offers supported office accommodation for artists, creatives, as well as arts organisations and music-based organisations and individuals. Inquiries to agac.com.au

Literature:

IN “Poetry and Place”, leading Canberra textile artist Dianne Firth has been inspired by works poetry from 2016’s “Poetry on the Move”, where poets wrote about their experience of nature and landscape in Canberra. Belconnen Arts Centre, August 25 to September 17.

Film:

THE spotlight shines on French New Wave actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, showcasing restored versions of six of his most renowned films from 1961 to 1974, in the 2017 Alliance Française “Classic” Film Festival, coming to Palace Cinemas from August 31 to September 3. Bookings to palacecinemas.com.au

THE 14th annual Arab Film Festival Australia returns to Canberra with films, which focus on Arab women, from Lebanon, Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, Tunisia and Australia. All films are subtitled in English and will be played at Arc Cinema, National Film and Sound archive, from September 1-2. Bookings to nfsa.gov.au

THE National Film and Sound Archive of Australia has “Strictly Ballroom: Behind the Curtain”, a new online exhibition to celebrate 25 years since the release of Baz Luhrmann’s debut film in August 1992. Visit nfsa.gov.au/collection/onlineexhibitions

Dance:

FOLK Dance Canberra has dancing from the Balkans with live music by “Balkanski Bus” a multi-ethnic band from Sydney, as well as lively dance performances by “Dusha Balkana” from The Australian Academy of Balkan Dance & Culture and dancing for everyone led by Yorgo Kaporis, a professional dancer, choreographer and teacher. Hackett Community Centre, 114 Maitland Street Hackett, 2-5pm, Saturday, September 2. Information at folkdancecanberra.org.au

AUSDANCE ACT Open Class is continuing with advanced to professional level classes on Wednesdays from 10am-11.30am at the Belconnen Arts Centre and an evening class on Thursday from 6.50pm-8.20pm at QL2’s Dance Studio, for intermediate to professional level dancers of all genres. Thursday, August 31, Afro Funk class with Gretel Burgess. Inquiries to 6247 9103.

Concerts and Gigs:

LLEWELLYN Choir’s coming concert will see soloists Sonia Anfiloff, Ben Connor and Michael Martin join the Llewellyn Sinfonia to perform Ariel Ramírez’s famous “Misa Criolla” at Hughes Baptist Church, Groom Street, Hughes, from 7.30pm, Saturday, September 2. Bookings to tryBooking.com and at the door.

SALUT! Baroque presents “(mis)Attributions”, works attributed to the wrong composer to capitalise on already famous reputations, at Albert Hall, 7.30pm, Friday, September 1. Bookings to baroque.com.au

GUITARIST Rupert Boyd joins his cellist wife Laura Metcalf, performing works by Bach, Falla, Edwards and Zenamon, in “Boyd Meets Girl”, at Wesley Music Centre, 7.30pm, Saturday, September 2. Bookings to trybooking.com/QDMA or at the door.

ANCA Gallery in Dickson is staging a live music event as part of the exhibition “We Collapse, We Build New Cities”. Melbourne music performer, artist and DJ, Makeda will be performing live, followed by a DJ as curator set by Angus McGrath, at ANCA, 1 Rosevear Street, Dickon. Free.

“QUEEN – The Magic Tour”, featuring Thomas Crane and Bohemian Rhapsody, will be at The Q, Queanbeyan, 8pm, Friday and Saturday, September 1-2. Bookings to theq.net.au or 6285 6290.

WODEN Valley Youth Choir, conducted by Kimberley Steele, presents “Journey”, at Canberra College Performing Arts Centre, Launceston Street, Phillip, from 7pm, September 2 and 2pm, September 3. Bookings to wvyc.org.au/annual-concert

CLASSICAL guitarist Matt Withers will showcase his brand-new album, “Songs of Yesterday”, at Lerida Estate Winery, Federal Highway, Lake George, from 12.30pm-3pm, this Sunday, September 3. Bookings essential to 4848 0231.

BLOCK Sounds recorder ensemble, directed by Robyn Mellor with Olivia Gossip, Elana Leske, Shae Leske, will perform its debut concert, “Waves in the Air”, at All Saints Anglican Church, Ainslie, 2.30pm, this Sunday, September 3. Tickets at the door.

SOPRANO Julia Wee sings famous Jessye Norman songs, African-American spirituals and Lieder by Mahler and Strauss, with Lucus Allerton on piano, for Art Song, at Wesley Music Centre, 3pm, this Sunday, September 3. Tickets only at the door.

MARUKI Community Orchestra presents two works by Mendelssohn, which will be presented at Albert Hall, 3pm, this Sunday, September 3. Bookings to marukicommunityorchestra.org.au or at the door.

MOMENTUM Ensemble, powered by the Australian Youth Orchestra, will perform a free concert at the High Court of Australia at 1.30pm, this Sunday, September 3. Free, but registration essential to hcourt.gov.au

PHOENIX Pub in Civic has as follows: Thursday, August 31 at 8pm, Piss Weak Karaoke; Friday, September 1 at 9pm, The King Hits, DJ The Professor; and Saturday, September 2 at 9pm, Flowertruck, Big White and Noir.

THE Groove Warehouse presents a night of raw and live percussion by international percussion icon Kuniko Kato from Japan, at 5/1 Sawmill Circuit, Hume, 8pm, Friday September 1. Bookings to groovewarehouse.com.au

Theatre:

“SEGUE 2017: Where Australia Meets Europe in Canberra” is an annual mini-festival staged by The Street Theatre, until Sunday, September 3. Bookings to thestreet.org.au or 6247 1223.

WAREHOUSE Circus presents “Choices & Change”, featuring 11 young artists breaking into a mysterious world that presents challenges, risks and choice. It’s a circus with big acrobatics, twisting contortion, juggling and aerials. Belconnen Community Theatre, until Saturday, September 2. Bookings to trybooking.com/book/event?eid=303659

 

“PRADA’S Priscillas” is all-male revue paying tribute to Australian entertainer Carlotta, directed by one of the original members of Les Girls, Monique Kelly, and starring drag queen Prada Clutch. At the Playhouse, 8pm, September 1. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.

ROSIE Waterland is the best-selling, award-nominated author, columnist, TV host, comedian and screenwriter who co-created and co-starred in ABC’s documentary series “What’s Going On”. Her new show “Crazy Lady” will be at Canberra Theatre, from 8.30pm, Friday, September 1. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.

“THE History Boys”, Alan Bennett’s hit play set in a boys’ school, is at the Courtyard Studio, September 1-16. Bookings to canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.

Exhibitions:

IT’S spring and it’s magpie season at Strathnairn Gallery, where “Songbirds”, an exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Anne Balcomb, will be launched by Gary Humphries, now Chair of RSPCA Australia, at 4pm this Saturday, September 2. The show continues at 90 Stockdill Drive, Holt, until to September 17, Thursday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm.

THE National Portrait Gallery’s new exhibition of 28 portraits by Nicholas Harding includes three works from the collection and 25 works on loan at Gallery One, NPG, from September 1 to November 6. Free entry.

“WE Collapse, We Build New Cities”, curated by Angus McGrath, features work by artists Emma Caskey, Zoë Croggon, Spencer Lai, Sarah McCauley, Liam O’Brien, Julia Thwaites and Madalyn Trewin that deals with the intersection of the human. The exhibition be held at ANCA Gallery from Wednesday to Sunday, 12pm-5pm until September 10.

“REVERSE Archaeology”, art by Jacqui Malins, looks at how the layers of life stick to humans, and how their identities are formed through the accumulation of experience. CCAS Manuka, 19 Furneaux Street, Manuka, Thursday to Sunday, 11am-5pm until September 10. The opening is at 6pm on August 31 and features a performance by the Griffyn Ensemble.

“NEIL Roberts: chances with glass” is an exhibition focusing on the much-missed late artist’s relationship with glass as “object, medium and signifier”. Curated by Barbara Campbell and Jane Cush, it runs at Canberra Glassworks until October 15.

 

THE Photography Room has “Molded in Mud” by Parisa Applegarth, “Inside Outside” by Aishah Kenton, and “Flatbed Suburbia” by Mac Nichols. The work will be featured in the Old Bus Depot, 21 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston Foreshore, open Sundays 10am-4pm and by appointment to mail@thephotographyroom.com.au or 0408 662996.

NANCY Sever Gallery is presenting “Byrd: Unreliable Narrator”, an exhibition of recent work by Canberra’s top mural and graffiti artist. The themes of Byrd’s work have grown out of a longstanding relationship with Australia’s natural environment, its fragility, management and the traces of human passage through it. 4/6 Kennedy Street, Kingston, Wednesday to Sunday, 11am– 6pm until September 3.

“HYPERactive”, works by Bianca Beetson, Claudia Chaseling, Richard Grayson, Jay Kochel, Catherine Laudenbach, Rebecca Selleck and Jay Younger, has been curated by David Broker. At Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Gorman Arts Centre, 55 Ainslie Avenue, Braddon, until September 2, 11am-5pm.

BELCONNEN Arts Centre has as follows: “The Art of Nature 2017 Wildlife and Botanical Artists; “Flights of Fancy” by Gillian Wilde; and “Poetry and Place”, by leading Canberra textile artist Dianne Firth who has been inspired by works from 2016’s “Poetry on the Move”, at Belconnen Arts Centre until September 17.

IN “Tolwong Road : A story of fire”, Stephen Hartup’s black and white photographs tell the story of bushfire, recovery and regeneration as observed and captured over a three-year period. At X Gallery, 32 Gibraltar Street, Bungendore, opening hours, 11am to 5pm, Friday to Monday.

The 50th Anniversary exhibition for the Queanbeyan Art Society is showing until the end of August at the QAS Gallery, Trinculo Place, Queanbeyan, under the bridge on the Queanbeyan River bank.

PHOTOACCESS has two exhibitions: “Next Generation: Solomon Islands, After RAMSI” by Sean Davey and “Provenance” by Geoffrey Dunn. The shows will continue until September 10, where they will be “In Conversation with Sean Davey and Geoffrey Dunn”.

THIS year’s Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council Regional Art Awards were jointly won by Harriet Schwarzrock for her blown glass piece “Flexible” and Suzanne Moss for her painting titled “Flowers for a room of one’s own”. Visitors can cast a vote for the $500 People’s Choice Award, at The Q Exhibition Space until September 2.

“FRUIT, Flowers, Fungi and Feathers”, is an exhibition of botanical and wildlife paintings, and drawings from specimens found in the Australian National Botanic Gardens. Opens at the Gardens’ Visitors Centre, 6pm, September 1 and continues to October 1.

TWO exhibitions are opening at Watson Arts Centre this Friday, August 17. The first, “Light and Heat” is a collaboration between two sisters – photographer Jane Kelly, a Sydney based professional photographer, and Canberra ceramicist, Josephine Townsend, a Canberra based ceramicist. The second, Janet Fieldhouse’s self-titled show, is an exhibition of the work of Canberra Potters’ current artist-in-residence. Both will be on display at Watson Arts Centre, Aspinall Street, Watson, until September 10, 10am–4pm, Thursday to Sunday.

M16 Artspace has a number of exhibitions that will run until September 3. One exhibition, “Lines of Site: Finding the Sublime in Canberra” is curated by Grace Blakeley-Carroll and features the work of Jacqueline Bradley, Cathy Franzi, Kirstie Rea, Mark Mohell, Annika Harding, Caren Florance and Melinda Smith. Another, “Transit Lane”, has work by Christine Jarrett, Jeanette Zvargulis, Joanne Hogan, Leeanne Jeffcoat, Jacqueline Wilkinson. The last is “The Structure of Things”, by Al Munro. All exhibitions will be on show at Blaxland Crescent, Griffith.

THE Belconnen Community Gallery “Springboard” series presents “Beauty in Imperfection”, an exhibition of textiles and ceramics by its Emerging Artist Support Scheme prize winner Christine Appleby, at gallery@bcs, Swanson Court, Belconnen, until September 1.

A RARE collection, which features 52 portraits of British street people will be on display for the first time in “Dempsey’s People: a folio of British street portraits 1824-1844”. Curated by David Hansen, the exhibition will bring together 51 works painted by little-known itinerant portraitist, John Dempsey. National Portrait Gallery, King Edward Terrace, Parkes, from 10am–5pm daily, to October 22.

“JUDE Rae, A Space of Measured Light”, is the newest exhibition at the ANU Drill Hall Gallery. It’ll be launched by gallery director Terence Maloon at 6pm, this Friday, August 18. There will also be an in conversation session with the artist at noon on Saturday, August 19. The exhibition runs at Kingsley Street, Acton, until October 15, from 10 am–5pm, Wednesday to Sunday.

“DEFYING Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial” brings the works of 30 contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to the National Gallery of Australia until September 10.

BILK Gallery is showcasing “Place, Knowing and Being”, a recent collection of works by Christopher Robertson, which were submitted as part of his practice lead research for a PhD at the ANU. These works include flatware and furniture as well as a selection of brooches from Robertson’s prior oeuvre. Bilk Gallery for contemporary metal and glass, Palmerston Lane, Manuka until September 3.

CRAFT ACT has a solo exhibition by South Australian designer and maker Christian Hall, which includes furniture, sculpture and jewellery. Craft ACT will also feature “Emerging Contemporaries”, the Craft ACT National Award Exhibition for early career artists. At Craft ACT: Craft and Design

MEREDITH Hinchliffe has curated an online exhibition of work by tapestry exponent Belinda Ramson, who died in 2014. This exhibition was mounted at the American Tapestry Alliance, visit americantapestryalliance.org/exhibitions/tex_ata/belinda-ramson/

“FINDERS Keepers: Collectors and their Stories MoAD at Old Parliament House runs from 9am-5pm, daily, until the middle of 2018. Entry is free after museum admission.

THE Australian War Memorial has as a permanent exhibition “The Holocaust: witnesses and survivors”, which includes over 85 collection items.

SECOND World War veterans —6500 of them—are showcased in a unique photography installation at the Australian War Memorial, “Reflections – honouring our WWII veterans”. The images will be archived and made accessible to the public as part of the Memorial’s online collection.

“A Change Is Gonna Come” is an exhibition focusing on the 1967 Aboriginal Referendum and the 1992 MABO land rights decision by the High Court. At the National Museum of Australia, until January 30, 2018.

SYDNEY artist Ingrid Bowen has a solo exhibition at Suki & Hugh Gallery in Bungendore. The exhibition entitled “Vast” presents a series of whimsical watercolour landscapes that should resonate with viewers from our region. 38A Gibraltar Street, Bungendore until October 1.