Another full week of Canberra arts events looms. Here’s HELEN MUSA’s latest “Artsweek” column…

THE International Committee of the Red Cross is bringing the “War in Cities” exhibition to Gorman Arts Centre from May 31 to June 6. The exhibition connects Australian audiences to people impacted by conflict through objects, images and audio that have travelled from war-torn cities to Canberra.

MANNING Clark House poetry reading, featuring Jenni Martiniello, Shezhad Hathi and Melinda Smith, at 11 Tasmania Circle, Forrest, 7pm, May 25.

THE sixth annual Reconciliation Day event in Canberra will be held at the National Arboretum with language workshops, art and crafts and storytelling, entertainment, stalls and exhibitions, Monday, May 29.

THE First Nations Film Festival features award-winning features, documentaries and short films, all accessible via streaming platform FanForceTV, May 30-June 3.

Shows

• TEMPO Theatre presents “Book of the Month,” in which where the young daughter of a Member of Parliament writes a steamy bestseller. Belconnen Community Theatre. May 26- June 3.

• PROFESSORS Lexi Con and Noel Edge (actually performers David Lampard and Emma Bargery) are back with another voyage through the alphabet in “The Alphabet of Awesome Science”, The Q, May 26-27.
• WANDER Theatre presents Brendan Cowell’s gritty Australian comedy “Ruben Guthrie” ACT Hub, Kingston, May 25-27.
• A brief independent theatre forum on access and inclusion will be hold at ACT Hub, Kingston, 6.30pm, May 31. Moderated by Peter Wilkins, panellists include Karen Vickery, and Jarrad West, Lexi Sekuless, Luke Rogers, Samuel Carroll and Alison Plevey.

Exhibitions

• “EMBODIED Subject: Performance, Craft and the Body” by Lauren Kalman, from Detroit,  opens at the ANU School of Art & Design Gallery, 5.30pm, May 25 and runs to June 8.
• “BAD Vibrations” by Francis Kenna opens at Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Manuka, 6pm, May 25 and runs until June 4.
• CANBERRA Glassworks has “Baayangalibiyaay” by Lucy Simpson opening at 5pm, May 26 and running until July 16.
• A new exhibition, “Haegue Yang: Changing From From To From”, features recent works by the Seoul and Berlin-based artist that explore interconnectivity and movement. National Gallery, May 27-September 23.
• TO celebrate Reconciliation Week, the National Portrait Gallery’s free “highlights” tours will focus on resilient and inspirational Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples featured in the collection. Daily 2.15pm, May 27-June 3.

Concerts

• THE Australian National Eisteddfod’s Bands and Orchestras event, encompassing around 2000 people in 87 groups, will return to live performances this month. Sections for singing, piano, speech and drama will follow in August and September. The bands event takes place Llewellyn Hall and Lyneham High School Performing Arts Centre, May 25-31. 
• CSO concertmaster Kirsten Williams, principal cello Patrick Suthers and pianist Edward Neeman will give a performance of Handel’s “Halvorsen Passacaglia for Violin and Cello” and Dvořák’s “Piano Trio No. 2 in G minor, op. 26”. Tuggeranong Arts Centre, 6pm, May 25.
• CANBERRA Sinfonia’s upcoming performance of Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater” with the ANU Chamber Choir, Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest, 1.30pm, May 27.
• “WELL-tempered Bach” with Joanne Arnott on recorders and Diana Weston on harpsichord. Wesley Music Centre, 3pm, May 27. 
• LUMINESCENCE Chamber Singers and Luminescence Children’s Choir join forces with Canberra-raised pianist and composer Sally Whitwell to perform her song cycle “Pictures at an exhibition”. Gandel Hall, National Gallery, 2pm, May 28.
• THE Friends of Chopin Australia are hosting Alexander Yau on piano and Rachel Siu on cello at All Saints Church, Ainslie, 3pm, May 28.
• HIGHLANDS Music Collective, “Heart Strings and Fire”, Wesley Music Centre, 3pm, May 28.
• YOTHU Yindi will headline this year’s Reconciliation Concert. They’ll share the stage with host Tahalianna Soward-Mahanga and young Canberran First Nations artists, Alinta Barlow and Stewart Barton. Canberra Theatre, 7pm, May 28.
• CANBERRA pianist Stuart Long will perform three works for solo piano by Bach, Rachmaninov and Chaminade. Wesley Music Centre, Forrest, 12.40-1.20pm, May 31.