M16 Artspace has three new exhibitions: “Shoreline” – Michael Desmond, Peta Jones, Bryn Desmond-Jones and Ossian Desmond-Jones; “Testamur 3”, Canberra Art Workshop; “Black and White Edges”, Alana Ford; and in Chutespace, “Waiting (for the end of Lockdown)”, Estelle Anderson. 21 Blaxland Crescent Griffith, opening for one weekend only, opening at noon on Friday, October 29 and closing on Sunday, October 31.

THE inaugural National Capital Art Prize, billed as the first Australia-wide competition for paintings of any subject, is opening at Aarwun Gallery, Gold Creek, from October 29 to November 14. 127 finalists have been chosen from a field of more than 1000 submissions from artists all over the country and  category winners are set to share a prize pool of $45,000.

“THE show will go on,” the organisers of the Gunning Arts Festival are saying as they prepare for their second virtual festival in a row, with music, art, craft workshops and talk. The event will take place over October 30 and 31 as a celebration of arts in the region. The full program is accessible here

ARIANA Odermatt is performing a recital of harpsichord music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Francois Couperin and Antoine Forqueray. at Wesley Music Centre, 20 National Circuit, Forrest, 3pm and 5pm, on Saturday, October 30. Book here  or at 6232 7248.

CRAFT ACT is open again with two exhibitions running from tomorrow, October 29. “Transformation,” the Craft ACT annual members exhibition, showcases contemporary expressions of craft and design, while “CO:LAB” features internationally acclaimed artists Cathy Franzi, Alison Jackson and Dan Lorrimer who were selected from a strong field as the inaugural Craft ACT CO:LAB recipients, an innovative professional development program to develop new lighting and encourage collaboration between architecture, craft and design. At Level 1, North Building, 180 London Circuit, Canberra, until December 14.

THE 2021 Japanese Film Festival will be full of fantasies, thrillers and avant-garde features from contemporary cinema. Palace Electric Cinema and National Film and Sound Archive, October 28-November 2. Book here

CANBERRA author-playwright Maura Pierlot’s new book, “ Fragments: Journeys from Isolation to Connection,” will be launched at The Book Cow, 47 Jardine Street, Kingston, 5pm on Friday, October 29. The event will also be live streamed on The Book Cow’s Facebook page. Free but book here