At the Rusten House Art Centre in Queanbeyan Transforming Objects by Karen Sorensen is the outcome of creative doctoral research, which explores ways of working with inherited objects to navigate the complex relationality and temporality of bereavement processes. The exhibition will be on display from Saturday 21st November until 12th December and Rusten House is at Collett St in Queenbeyan.
Strathnairn Arts has three new exhibitions. Firstly, Glimmers of Life is a body of mixed media work created by six local artists who have been meeting monthly as a women’s group since late 2023. Then, Sylf-Lore by Thomas Pearson is an assembling of painting and glass artwork that explores the construction of a personal mythology, where memories, objects, and stories of domestic parenthood coalesce with broader inherited mythologies. And lastly, Daydreams and Detours is a joint exhibition between Catherine Neil and Livonne Larkins of colourful landscapes and stories they encounter as they meander through life. All three exhibitions will be on display from Wednesday 18th November until 12th December. Strathnairn Arts gallery hours are 10am -4pm Wednesday to Sunday.
The next Lakeside at 5 live music series will be vocalist, Rachael Thoms joining forces with two of Canberra’s most sought-after musicians, guitarist Lachlan Coventry, and bassist Chris Pound in a soulful, sophisticated, playful, and intimate live music performance that defies genre, style and time. The concert will be at Tuggeranong Arts Centre from 5:30pm on Friday 27th November. For information on the event and upcoming Lakeside at 5 sessions visit the Tuggeranong Arts Centre’s website.
The Night Before is an unscripted absurdist comedy. Inspired by the Theatre of the Absurd, each performance is a completely new play, created live on stage. Five family members gather in a swanky 1950s hotel bar on the eve of a family occasion chosen by the audience. The actors know their characters, but not the story. There’s no script — and no guarantee that anyone will behave sensibly. The Night Before will be performed at the Harmonie German Club from Friday 27th till Sunday 29th November. For further information visit the Harmonie German Club website.
At the Cox Gallery Unmoored is a collage exhibition by Laura Canty is a collage exhibition where reclaimed or handmade items are easily arranged, rearranged, potentially discarded, reintroduced, multiplied, altered, layered or erased; all before being secured to a surface. Unmoored will be on display until 17 December. The Cox Gallery is at Thesiger Court in Deakin and gallery hours are Monday to Friday 9am-5pm.
Canberra Community Chorale presents Crossing Borders. A program that crosses musical borders from England to Poland, from Hungary to Denmark. The concert will be at the Wesley Music Centre, on Sunday 29th November at 5pm. More information is available from the Wesley Music Centre website.
At the Grainger Gallery Mist by Miranda Joy Summers is an exploration through oil on canvas of the quieting of landscape. Where colour desaturates, sound muffles, and form dissolves. Mist will be on display until 20th December. The Granger gallery is at Geelong St Fyshwick & opening hours are Wed – Sun 11am – 5pm.
The Canberra Contemporary has POWER – The Future is Here, the result of a collaboration between artist Dennis Golding and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from Alexandria Park Community School. The superhero capes in this exhibition were created during a workshop in 2020, led by Dennis Golding who was an artist in residence at the school through Solid Ground. POWER – The Future is Here will be on display until 30th January.
Canberra Potters presents the ‘Enough? Enough! ENOUGH’ a group exhibition that brings together three nationally recognised artists whose intersecting practices in contemporary ceramics, art and design explore labour, activism and social commentary. Enough? Enough! ENOUGH’ will be on display until Sunday 29th November. Canberra Potters is at Aspinall St Watson. Gallery hours are 10am to 4pm, Tuesday to Saturday and 11am to 3pm Sunday.
At Canberra Glassworks Funny Peculiar, Not Funny ‘Ha Ha’ by Erin Dickson brings together the full breadth of her diverse practice in a bold new body of work that fuses traditional craft skills with digital technologies. The exhibition will be on display until 31st January. Canberra Glassworks is at Wentworth Avenue, Kingston. Gallery hours 10am – 4pm Wednesday to Sunday.
The next ANU Meet the Authors event will be John Birmingham in conversation with Mark Kenny on his new Quarterly Essay, Another Country: The rise and rise of One Nation. Using personal stories, insights from political insiders and overarching analysis, John Birmingham maps One Nation’s Australia and explores where our politics goes from here. The event will take place on Wednesday 18th November at 6pm at the ANU Kambri Cinema. And, to find out more information and to register for this event visit the events section of the ANU website.
The Friends of the Australian National Botanic Gardens Photographic Group, presents Illuminate 26, an exhibition of outstanding nature photography. The exhibition will be in the Australian National Botanic Gardens Visitor’s Centre until Sunday 29th November. For further information visit the Friends of the Australian National Botanic Gardens website.
Photo Access’s Huw Davies Gallery has Our Image, an exhibition by four artists exploring the relationships between photography, memory and family. Moving between archival images, experimental photographic processes and sculptural installation, their works question what a photograph can hold, reveal or bring into existence. Our Image will be on display until Saturday 28th November. Photo Access is at Manuka Circuit, Griffith. Gallery hours are Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 4pm
The British Film Festival is coming to Canberra. The specially curated program features tender dramas, action packed thrillers, comedy, documentaries and retrospectives. The festival is screening at the Palace Electric cinema in New Acton until Sunday 29th November. For further information and the schedule of screenings visit the Palace cinema’s website.
Tuggeranong Arts Centre has three exhibitions.
Firstly, Hone Ground by Julie Ryder explores the artist’s ongoing relationship with nature through plant-dyed and stitched textiles, mark-making, and works on paper.
Next, Alchemies by painter Nicola Dickson and ceramicist Malcolm Cooke. While working in different mediums, both artists share an interest in pattern and the recurring presence of plant and animal forms, which they use to evoke a sense of place and belonging.
And lastly, in Sixty members of the Canberra Spinners and Weavers present a selection of works created over the past decade.
All three exhibitions will be on display until 12th December. For more information visit the Tuggeranong Arts Centre’s website.
Belco Arts has six new exhibitions:
Firstly, Animal Portraits is a series of anthropomorphic works by Brenda Runnegar representing pets and favourite animals as majestic figures in historical paintings..
Then, Histories & Habitats by Fenja T. Ringl presents hand-printed works on paper and ceramics that explore the intricate forms of Australia’s flora and fauna.
Next, Phases by members of the University of Canberra Faculty of Art and Design and their collaborators explore the meaning or the experience of ‘phase’.
Colour Through My Eyes by Lien To expresses the beauty and colour that she sees in the world in spite of her vision impairment.
Passions, Journeys and Imaginings by Christine Upton features works based on her weekly walks in the bush, the constant watching of people and birds, the love of carving, and a lifetime as an artist.
And, lastly, Occupying Space by Helen Heslop is a series of quilt and collage works created from photographs taken of landscapes in the South Coast of NSW.
All six exhibitions will be on display until 29th November. Belco Arts Gallery hours are 10am – 4pm, Tuesdays – Sunday.
At the Canberra Museum and Gallery RELICS: A New World Rises is an immersive exhibition where vintage objects become homes for intricate miniature worlds built from LEGO bricks. A refrigerator becomes a cryogenic wellness resort. A Volkswagen Beetle powers an underground energy revolution. A grandfather clock becomes a time machine. RELICS will be on display until 31st January. The Canberra Museum and Gallery Cnr London Circuit and City Square, Canberra City. Opening hours are Monday-Friday: 10am-4pm & 12-4pm on Saturday-Sunday.
At the Museum of Australian Democracy the Press Gallery exhibition takes visitors inside the original working spaces of the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery, where reporters worked between 1927 and 1988; filing stories under pressure, chasing exclusives and sitting quite literally above the nation’s decision makers. Press Gallery is on display daily from 9am to 5pm at The Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House.
At the National Archives of Australia, Rear vision: the Holden collection explores the evolution of the General Motors-Holden brand, bringing to life thememories and stories that established it as a beloved national icon. Rear vision: the Holden collection will be on display until 31st January at the National Archives of Australia each day from 9am to 5pm.
At the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House Behind the Lines 2025: ‘Are We Rolling?’ celebrates the year’s best political cartoons. This year’s exhibition theme is the cinema, acknowledging that, like some of our favourite movies, 2025 has been full of thrills and spills, romance and heartbreak, with plenty of unexpected plot twists. Our cartoonists and illustrators have tackled many of the issues that made news, including the federal election, the cost of living, energy policy, interest rates, housing security, the economy, climate change and stories from overseas. Behind the Lines 2025 will run until November 2026. The Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House is open daily from 9am to 5pm.
