HELEN MUSA marks another big week of local arts with a column brimming with places to be and things to see. Here’s her latest Artsweek column.

The new Nellie Hamilton Centre in Crawford Street, Queanbeyan, has provided the opportunity to acknowledge outspoken Aboriginal Elder and cultural advocate, Nellie Hamilton, who was born in the 1830s and died at Rusten House, Queanbeyan Hospital in 1897. Now as part of the QPRC Heritage Festival, there’ll be the Keeping Heritage Alive exhibition, telling the story of Queen Nellie in sculpture and art, with the maquette of local artist Neil Dickinson’s coming sculpture on display. Opens at The Hive, 274 Crawford Street Queanbeyan, May 9, then across three weekends from May 10-25.

The inaugural Milton Folk, Jazz & Blues Festival is running in the south coast town over the Mother’s Day weekend, May 9-11.

The Palestinian Film Festival returns for its 13th year, with the Canberra program including highlights such as The Teacher by Oscar-nominated Farah Nabulsi, To A Land Unknown from Cannes, and From Ground Zero – 22 short films made by displaced artists in Gaza. Dendy Canberra, May 9-11.

Sixty: The Journal of Australian Ceramics 60th Anniversary 1962 – 2022, Canberra Potters Gallery, Watson, May 8 to June 8.

The Viva Italia in Canberra committee is hosting An Evening in Italy, Realm Hotel, May 10.

Stage

• Canberra Theatre Centre will hold an open day with backstage access, as it celebrates 60 years. Visitors will be able to experience what it’s like to stand on The Playhouse stage and to walk through the dressing rooms. Canberra Museum + Gallery will also join the party, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Sidney Nolan’s gift to the nation with a range of free activities, May 10.
• Andrew Bovell’s cross-generational play, When The Rain Stops Falling, comes to Belconnen Arts Centre, 118 Emu Bank, Belconnen, May 8-17.
• The Burt Bacharach Songbook celebrates with classics performed by Las Vegas stars Vivian Ross and EC Adams, backed by a live band. The Q, Queanbeyan, May 8.

Concerts

• Australian saxophonist, Matthew Ottignon, will perform at Smith’s Alternative, May 9.
• Concert pianist John Granger Fisher presents a program including works by Haydn, Schubert/Liszt, Schumann Rachmaninoff and Bizet/Horowitz. Wesley Music Centre, May 9.
• American singer and songwriter Eli Paperboy Reed and his longtime protégées, the Harlem Gospel Travelers, will be The Baso, Belconnen, May 10.
• The organ at Canberra City Uniting Church, Northbourne Avenue, is reaching its 100th anniversary, to be marked with a centenary recital by Samuel Giddy, who originally began his organ studies with Philip Swanton at the ACT Organ School in 2011. 
• Members of Super Rats have created an offshoot, Taraf Grozav, featuring some different Romanian repertoire. They’ll perform raucous songs and dances. Smith’s Alternative upstairs, May 11.
• The Australian String Quartet marks its 40th anniversary at Gandel Hall, NGA, May 11.
• Sense, Sensibility & Song, a Mother’s Day performance inspired by the world of Jane Austen featuring the National Opera Chorus and soloists. All Saints’ Anglican Church, Ainslie, May 11.
• Merry Muse Mother’s Day concert has Daisy Chain and Humbug Celtic Band. Canberra Irish Club, 6 Parkinson St, Weston May 11.
• The Ten Tenors are back on tour as they celebrate 30 years and more than 3500 shows since their first performance in Brisbane during 1995. Canberra Theatre, May 11.