There’s a lot going on this coming week in the arts. HELEN MUSA has rounded up as much information as she can in her latest “Artsday” column.

AARWUN Gallery in Gold Creek has a new exhibition, “Locations”, of paintings by leading Sydney artist Bernard Ollis, comprising work from pre and post-covid travels and encounters. From India to France, Morocco and Italy, from inner Sydney to the Daintree National Park, Ollis paints personal observations and encounters. Opening night 6pm-8pm Friday. The exhibition runs until April 16.

AUSTRALIAN Dance Party’s Culture Cruise continues to indulge in Canberra’s best dance, art, music, food and wine. Starts at Lawson Crescent Viewing Deck, Acton 10.30am-3pm, Saturday. Bookings at events.humanitix.com/culturecruise

LONDON lecturer and writer Anna Moszynska will speak about “Fresh Encounters: Contemporary Sculpture and the Public Space” for the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society. Bicentennial Hall, Queanbeyan, 2.30pm, March 16, followed by an afternoon tea.

On stage

• CANBERRA Rep’s first production for 2023 is AR Gurney’s play, “Love Letters”. Directed by Kate Blackhurst, it features Canberra theatre actors Andrea Close and Michael Sparks in a story of two lifetimes. Canberra Rep Theatre, March 15-26.
• IN Joanna Murray-Smith’s new play “Julia”, Australia’s first female prime minister is played by TV star Justine Clarke. The Playhouse, March 18-25. 
• ACTOR, writer, and storyteller Rob Carlton is back on stage with “Clearly Confused”, reliving four true stories that made him the confused, but happy, man he is today. The Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theatre, 5pm, Saturday.

Concerts

• “TRAVERSING the Void” is a new chamber opera by Icelandic composer Hildigunnur Runarsdottir and librettist Josephine Truman. Wesley Music Centre, 7pm, Friday.
• CANBERRA Youth Orchestra will perform a program of Rachmaninov, Holst, Sutherland and France invoking dreams of pastures, reminiscence, and rejuvenation, with a special solo by a CYO member. Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest, 10.30am, Saturday.
• OCEANS Together is a quartet led by composers Mark Ginsburg and Ryan Grogan, alongside collaborators Brendan Clarke and Fabian Hevia. St Andrews Anglican Church, Braidwood, 5pm, Friday, then ANU Drill Hall Gallery, 5.30pm, Saturday.
• “FROM Broken Hill to Bel Canto” is a recital by Canberra-trained soprano Louise Keast. Wesley Music Centre, 5pm, Sunday.
• Owen Campbell & The Cosmic People, Canberra Irish Club, Weston, 6.30pm, Sunday.
• SELBY & Friends’ “First, By No Means Last!”, sees Kathryn Selby, violinist Alexandra Osborne and cellist Clancy Newman play piano trios by Mendelssohn and Brahms. NGA James Fairfax Theatre, 7pm, Monday.
• A PEOPLE’S chorus of women mark the 20th Anniversary of A Chorus of Women. Parliament House Foyer, 12.30pm-1 pm, Tuesday.
• ANU School of Music Classical, Jazz and Contemporary Performance students perform a couple of relaxed concerts in the Larry Sitsky Recital Room & Big Band Room, lunchtimes, Tuesday and March 28.
• PIANIST Mark Jurkiewicz returns with a program of mazurkas and waltzes. Wesley Music Centre, 12.40pm to 1.20pm, Wednesday.
• CANBERRA Symphony Orchestra presents “Fire & Shadow”, conducted by Dane Lam and featuring percussionist, Claire Edwardes. Llewellyn Hall, March 22-23.

In the galleries

• “STAGE and Street” is an exhibition by two photographers, Kerry Baylor, who showcases local musicians and street life and Georgia Curry, whose street photography captures humanity on Canberra’s streets. Smith’s Alternative Gallery until March 31.
• M16 Artspace has three new exhibitions opening on Thursday: “Cosmotechnic Telepathics in the Age of Surveillance Capitalism”, “The Stranger I Know Well” and“fagpile – pink is fun”, and in Chutespace, “Hill End”.
• CANBERRA Potters in Watson are presenting “Clay Conversations: Market Ready Open Forum”, an hour-long, moderated panel followed by a Q&A, discussing all things making, selling and participating in an artisan market. 6.30pm on Thursday. 
• “IDEAS Worth Sharing”, an exhibition by James Rowell, opens at Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Manuka, 6pm, Friday. 
• SEVEN friends who met as volunteer guides at the NGA are exhibiting their own art, “Through, Light and Shade”. The Old Barn Gallery, Pialligo, March 16-26. Meet the Makers afternoon, 1pm-4pm on Saturday.
• TWO Hawker artists, Jenny McEwen Mason and Isla Patterson, have paintings on display. Softball Centre, 45 Walhallow Street, Hawker, 10.30am-1.30pm, on Sunday.