The German Film Festival is coming to Canberra. The festival will showcase the best in contemporary German cinema featuring key selections direct from the 2025 Berlinale, as well as thought-provoking dramas, insightful documentaries, comedies and family films. The festival will screen at the Palace Electric cinema in New Acton from Wednesday April 300 – May 28. Further information and the schedule of screenings is available from the Palace cinemas website.

The Canberra Choral Society presents Dixit Dominus, featuring two contrasting choral gems, Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Arvo Pärt’s sonorous Berliner Messe. The concert will be at St Paul’s Anglican Church in Manuka at 3pm on Saturday May 3. For further information visit the Canberra Choral Society website.

At Rusten House in Queanbeyan there’s FAKE & FAMOUS: an exhibition that brings together a diverse collection of works in which artists reinterpret famous painting, photography, sculpture, and mixed media masterpieces through their own creative lens. The exhibition will be on display until Saturday May 24; Rusten House is at Collett St, Queanbeyan.

The next ANU Meet the Authors event will be best-selling author Dervla McTiernan in conversation with Chris Hammer about The Unquiet Grave, her much-anticipated new novel in the Cormac Reilly series. The event will take place at the Australian National University Cultural Centre in the Kambri Precinct on ANU on Wednesday April 30 from 6pm.To find out more information visit the events section of the ANU website.

The ANU School of Art & Design Gallery has Soil Breathes by Sophia Dacy-Cole. An exhibition of artworks all made in collaboration with the soils steward at Wamboin. Soil Breathes will be on display until Friday May 2. The ANU School of Art & Design Gallery is on the Cnr Ellery Cres and, Liversidge St, Acton.

At the Drill Hall Gallery there’s Eye to Eye: an exhibition that brings into focus Susan Taylor and Peter Jones’s art collection on the advent of the collection’s 25th anniversary. This Canberran couple’s collection of art was seeded from an initial interest in mid-century modern design and early twentieth century avant-garde art. The exhibition will run until June 15. The Drill Hall Gallery is at  Kingsley St Acton, Opening hours are Weds-Sun 10am-5pm.

At the Wesley Music Centre two upcoming concerts. Firstly, there’s Strings & Keys: A Ukrainian Musical Journey. A concert featuring two Ukrainian musicians: virtuoso bandura player and soprano Larissa Kovalchuk and pianist Anna Dove performing a program of Ukrainian classical and traditional pieces. This concert will be on Saturday April 26 at 5pm. Then on Sunday April 27 from 3pm the Phoenix Collective Quartet and pianist Zen Zeng will join forces to present a program exploring inner worlds mapped and shared through sound. For further details on both these concerts visit the Wesley Music Centre’s website.

At Strathnairn Arts Lesley Fitzpatrick’s Hiding in plain sight explores the contradictions embedded in Australian society, culture, and environment through a selection of acrylic paintings. The exhibition will be on display until Sunday May 4. Strathnairn Arts gallery hours are 10-4pm Wednesday to Sunday.

Photo Access’s Huw Davies Gallery has two new exhibitions: Firstly, Alex Walker’s Light  Intersection is a site-specific exhibition exploring the role of light in photography and architecture. Then Nudes by Skye Thompson reimagines the overlooked material of 8mm home films as a space for reflection and repair. Both exhibitions will be on display from until Sunday May 10. Photo Access is at Manuka Circuit, Griffith. Gallery hours are Tuesday – Saturday 10am-4pm.

At the Canberra Glassworks two new exhibitions. Firstly, Arum by Sydney-based designer, Tom Fereday is a solo show of glass products that uses his vast knowledge of manufacturing processes. Then Meander by Katie-Ann Houghton explores the relationship between form and pattern, drawing inspiration from architectural details. Both exhibitions will be on display until June 8. Canberra Glassworks is at Wentworth Avenue, Kingston. Gallery hours 10am-4pm Wednesday to Sunday.

M16 Artspace has three new exhibitions:

Firstly, in Dreamworlds, Isabelle Mackay-Sim & Gemma Brown lean into the idea of world-building, and create abstract sculptural groupings that tread the line between sculpture and diorama.

Then, The Forest Passage by Alex Flannery uses digital and film cameras to examine the hidden world of animal pathways winding through thick bush.

And, lastly, in Pizza Box Studio, Karl Lorenz transforms humble materials into gallery-ready art where small-scale, handcrafted landscapes invite viewers to experience both the personal and the infinite.

All three exhibitions run from Thursday April 17 until Sunday May 11.

M16 is at Blaxland Crescent, Griffith and Gallery hours are 10am – 4pm, Tuesdays – Sunday.

At the Wesley Music Centre two upcoming concerts. Firstly, there’s Bach to the Bush: Music for Solo Cello by acclaimed cellist Anthony Albrecht performing the works of  Bach, Dall’Abaco and Australian composers. This concert will be on Saturday April 19 at 5pm. Then on Wednesday April 23 from 12.40, the Lunchtime Concert series presents accomplished pianist Stuart Long in a program of memorable movie themes, including The Piano, Schindler’s List, and Cinema Paradiso. For further details on both these concerts visit the Wesley Music Centre’s website.

At the Canberra Contemporary Platform Isabella Capezio’s Bodies Beyond the Skin interrogates how landscape photography has upheld hierarchical, masculinist assumptions and seeks to problematise this schema by using ‘queer’ and camp methodologies to disrupt colonial frameworks. The exhibition will be on display until Sunday April 27. The Canberra Contemporary Platform is at Furneaux Street, Manuka. Gallery hours are Friday to Sunday, 11am-5pm.

Craft and Design Canberra has two new exhibitions. The 2024 Artist-in-Residence exhibition showcases the work of 4 artists completed as part of the annual Craft + Design Canberra Artist-in-Residence program at Gudgenby Ready-Cut Cottage in the Namadgi National Park.

With Moth by Sue Peachey is a body of work that pairs utilitarian objects observed in the outbuildings of the Lanyon Homestead with endemic moth species.

Both exhibitions run until Saturday May 31. Craft & Design Canberra is in the North Building on London Cct in Civic. Gallery hours are Wednesday to Saturday 12pm -4pm.

Tuggeranong Arts Centre has three exhibitions.

In Walking with the Gardener, embroiderer Sharon Peoples and printmaker Peter McLean have set out to be immersed in, and record, the lush environment of Mt. Wilson.

Meander  by Lynne Flemons is a body of work that explores the creeks that flow through the Gudgenby Valley in Namadgi National Park through drawings made on site and paintings developed in the studio.

Pixel and Thread by Networks Australia is an exhibition showcasing the diverse ways digital technology can enhance creativity for textile artists and makers. The Networks Australia artists experiment with technologies like artificial intelligence, photography, programming, and automation, skillfully weaving them into their textile creations.

All three exhibitions will be on display from Friday April 11 until June 7. More information is available from the Tuggeranong Arts Centre’s website.

At the National Library of Australia there’s Fit to Print: Defining Moments from the Fairfax Photo Archive selected by Mike Bowers. This exhibition features images printed from the original glass-plate negatives to explore how the pioneers of press photography in Australia developed their storytelling skills while also creating a lasting record of Australian society in the opening decades of the 20th century. Fit to Print  will be on display until July 20. The National Library is open from 9am-5pm daily and for more information visit the National Library of Australia website.

The Belconnen Arts Centre has five new exhibitions:

Bountiful Botanicals by Members of the Botanical Art Society of Australia focuses on and celebrates biodiversity in the crops that have been closely associated with the human species over thousands of years.

In Through the Small Window, Lesley Andersen is responding to patterns found in ordinary household textiles to create small works that evolve through the methodical and rhythmic process of piecing together shapes, colours and textures built from hand-made oil and cold wax papers.

In Circumnavigating ‘Bush Capital’ from the (bike) saddle Sophie Baker literally looks down on The Capital from mountain bike paths to create works that observe the interconnectedness of our environment, its creatures and people.

Nana Saab’s Study for Stars reclaims industrial materials to transform them into something that is completely transcendental.

Botanical Systems by Paul Summerfield is an exhibition of digitally created textural details, light-filled spaces, dappled shadows, technobabble seeped in tradition and imagined ancient cultures.

All five exhibitions will be on display from Friday March 28 until May 18. Belco Arts Gallery hours are 10am–4pm, Tuesdays–Sunday.

At the Canberra Museum and Gallery Outer Space: Stromlo to the Stars celebrates the 100-year anniversary of Mount Stromlo Observatory. Immersive digital interactives, unique objects, and oral histories bring to life the groundbreaking discoveries and hidden history of this remarkable institution. Outer Space: Stromlo to the Stars will run until November 16. At 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 National Museum of Australia, Pompeii  is an exhibition that combines moving soundscapes and large-scale digital projections with over 90 fascinating objects, to recreate life in the ancient city presenting the people of Pompeii as they were before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. On display will be stunning frescoes spanning more than 3 metres, magnificent mosaics, jewellery, sculptures and moving replicas of casts of people who died in the disaster. The exhibition will run from Friday December 13 until May 4. Further information is available from the National Museum of Australia website.

At the National Archives of Australia, 20 Years of Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year: showcases the winning entries from each year of the competition. Visitors can explore how photographic techniques have evolved over the past two decades, from when digital cameras were limited to today’s advanced technologies like smartphones and drones, illustrating how photography is a powerful medium for capturing and understanding our natural world. 20 Years of Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year is on display at the National Archives of Australia each day from 9am to 5pm until April 27.

At the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House Behind the Lines 2024: the year in political cartoons. This year’s exhibition theme is ‘No guts, no glory’, reflecting a year where the Olympic and Paralympic Games were held, and in Australia’s daily news sporting analogies were drawn between politics and the issues affecting our everyday lives.  Behind the Lines 2024 will run until December 2025.

At the National Gallery of Australia the exhibition Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia is a celebration of First Nations art and cultures, providing a visual dialogue into Australia’s complex histories with over 260 historical and contemporary works of art by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from across Australia. Ever Present will be on display until August 2025. Gallery hours are 10am-5pm daily.