The arts, all the arts and nothing but the arts… it’s this week’s “Artsweek” column by HELEN MUSA. 

“NAIDOC in the North 2023 – For Our Elders” is a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Culture through story, song, art dance and ceremony, now in its eighth year. Free music, dance, Yerrabi Yurwang child and family fun, art, stalls and exhibitions, with highlights including music from Johnny Huckle, Alinta Barlow and Belle Whyte. Belco Arts, 118 Emu Bank, 11am-2pm, July 8.

QUEANBEYAN-Palerang Regional Council’s 2023 Christmas in July market will feature more than 100 market stalls and entertainment. Queanbeyan Showground, 9am-3pm, July 8.

“I DANCE II” is a conference directed by Hanna Cormick, Matt Shilcock and Liz Lea celebrating the creation and distribution of Australian dance films created by artists living with disability. National Film and Sound Archive, 10am-4pm, July 10, then the 12 films showing will be available online for 14 days.

Stage

• ROBYN Archer will uncover the hidden gems of Australian music in “An Australian Songbook”, The Playhouse, July 7–8.
• “GATHER – Meet Up” will feature new dance works by six youth dance companies from around Australia, hosted by QL2 Dance. The Playhouse, July 10.
• IN Tracey Bourne’s play, “Finale,” Moya Simpson and musicians Jonesie Jones and John Black use cabaret to reflect on ageing. Ainslie Arts Centre, July 12-15.

Concerts

• IN “Voice Unwrapped” ANU PhD candidate and soprano Sarah Mann (formerly Shalders) and Ella Luhtasaari on piano, are joined by clarinettist Milan Kolundzija, clarinet, soprano Alira Prideaux and baritone Sitiveni Talei to present a concert exploring the emotional language of opera. Larry Sitsky Recital Room, ANU School of Music, July 6.
• AINSLIE Salon’s “Midpoint” is two days of live music for the new festival, “Uncharted Territory”, and celebrates the growth of experimental music practices in this region. July 7-8.
• “CHASE Those Winter Blues Away” is an afternoon choral concert by local jazz vocal group Rhythm Syndicate. Wesley Music Centre, 2pm, July 8.
• NIGEL Westlake conducts Australian Youth Orchestra, Lior and Lou Bennett in “Ngapa William Cooper”, “The Glass Soldier Suite” and “Beneath the Waves”. Llewellyn Hall, 5pm, July 9.
• WESLEY Music Centre’s next lunchtime concert will feature Aeolus Wind Trio, 12.40pm, July 12.

Galleries

• CRAFT + Design Canberra opens two exhibitions, “Uncommon”, Eliza-Jane Gilchrist’s abstract sculptures and “Exuberance”, work by 20 Australian embroiderers/stitchers chosen for their exuberant use of hand stitch. Level 1, North Building, London Circuit, Civic, July 6-August 26.
• M16 Artspace in Griffith has three new exhibitions opening on July 6: “Show Offs”; “Still Life,” by Canberra Art Workshop; “Out of the Window” by Hands On Studio; and in Chutespace “All the seeds (talismans)” by Ali Aedy. T 21 Blaxland Crescent Griffith. Until July 30.
• “AFTER The High Fell” by Lizzie Hall, opens at the Canberra Contemporary Art Space Manuka, on July 6 and continues until July 16.
• RUSTEN House, Queanbeyan, is presenting two exhibitions where artists explore the world through film and photography, with Frances Wild and Carol Williamson short film, “Ecce Red Hill” showing until July 8, and the Canberra Tree Network’s photography exhibition “Our forest in Focus – Life in our trees,” until July 22. 
• CANBERRA artist Val Johnson’s “Colours of the Outback” exhibition of miniature gouache paintings is in Wren’s Nest Studio within Designer Op Shop Emporium, Fyshwick, until July 23.
• JULIE Bradley’s new exhibition, “Resonant”, a reflection on how music is also a language, is in Pivot Gallery, Belco Arts, opening July 7 and running until August 20.
• AMERICAN photographer Nan Goldin’s series of 126 photographs “The ballad of sexual dependency” from the ’80s is at the National Gallery, July 8-January 28.
• “CAPTURING Canberra: CMAG’s Press Photography”, shows the development of photojournalism in the capital and highlights the work of generations of photographers. Canberra Museum and Gallery, July 8-January 28.
• MEGALO Print Studio, Kingston, has “Day Dreamer/Night Thinker,” a solo exhibition by Canberra artist Saskia Haalebos of prints, animation, installation and book arts, July 8-September 2.
• ANCA Gallery, Dickson, has “Coming home: with metal and glass”, a new exhibition by sibling artists, Olivia and Solomon Gates, July 12- 30.