Arts editor HELEN MUSA shares her latest round-up of the arts in Canberra.

BANGARRA Dance Theatre’s “SandSong: Stories from the Great Sandy Desert” tells the unique story of the Kimberley region and the survival of the Walmajarri people, bringing in the question of country, sacred places and displacement. Canberra Theatre, July 15-17, book here or call 6275 2700.

TALENTED young keyboard performer, Linus Lee, appears in the Wednesday Lunchtime Concert series with original compositions and transcriptions of famous classical pieces with European dance-themed elements by composers including Strauss, Saint-Saens, Bartok and Brahms performed on the organ and piano. Wesley Music Centre, Forrest, 12.40–1.20pm, Wednesday, July 14. Book here or call 6232 7248.

APPLICATIONS are open until August 9 for the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, to be judged by contemporary artist, Abdul Abdullah. Artists aged between 20 and 30 should apply here. Five young artists will each be offered $10,000 and a two-week residency at the Shark Island Institute in Kangaroo Valley between November 1-5. 

PHOTOACCESS opens three new exhibitions this week: “Split” by Chris Bowes, where an installation of screens and webcams watches us, distorts us and taunts us; “Don’t Be Fooled by the Faces I Wear” by Ben Rak, where screens mask hidden identities and mimicking passing in a society where surface is everything; and “Exploded View” by Catherine Evans, a distorted representation of the artist’s personal memory of the Royal Canberra Hospital implosion. Opening in PhotoAccess Gardens, 30 Manuka Circle, Griffith, 6pm, Thursday, July 15, then the exhibitions continue in the Huw Davies Gallery, Tuesday–Saturday, 10am to 4pm, until August 14.

AUSDANCE ACT is partnering with QL2 Dance on a curated residency program to support four QL2 Dance residencies with a $500 cash contribution towards a creative development for emerging and established artists and in-kind support that includes access to dance specific rehearsal and performance spaces, and may include mentorship, production, management and marketing support. Apply here.