Ten things to do in Canberra this week (6 - 12 November)

We have a great week of events coming up, with NAIDOC Week beginning on Sunday, and the DESIGN Canberra Festival beginning on Monday.

The first-ever Indigenous Art Sale online begins on Sunday, and ACT Libraries are holding NAIDOC events for kids, with NAIDOC ACT Children’s Online Events on Monday. The Canberra Dragon Dancers will be conducting a blessing for the new City Walk on Saturday, and as part of the DESIGN Canberra Festival Great Day, Great Place in City Walk will challenge artists and community groups to respond to the theme of ‘care’ on Thursday.

On Sunday you can take a gentle walk through the Southern Tablelands Ecosystem at the National Arboretum.

The National Gallery’s Know My Name Conference begins on Tuesday, and don’t miss the Christmas Handmade Online Markets, which will be running every Sunday in November. It’s a great chance to shop for some of the country’s best Australian handmade products and produce for that special Christmas gift.

And State of Origin is back! Don’t miss the game, head to your nearest Vikings Club to watch on Wednesday, and enjoy happy hour before the game.

New mothers will love Mums and Bubs yoga, which starts on Tuesday and provides gentle post-natal exercise for new mums.

Mini Minties will be great fun for kids aged 4 to 6 on Friday morning at the Australian Mint, which will include story-telling, gallery exploration, and the chance to make their very own crown.

Have a great week Canberra!

All week

AIATSIS Indigenous Art Market Online

Where: Online
When: Sunday 8 November, 6:00 pm to Saturday 15 November 6:00 pm
Cost: Free, registrations essential.

Join in for the first-ever online AIATSIS Indigenous Art Market! This year hundreds of Indigenous artists, designers, weavers and carvers from art centres and communities across Australia are brought to you online throughout NAIDOC Week 2020.

You can purchase a diverse range of paintings, textiles, sculptures, decorations and more, direct from the art centres with 100 per cent of profits going directly to the artists and their communities.

Select artworks from participating artists will be projected on to the National Carillon in Canberra throughout NAIDOC Week. Follow the action and share content using the hashtag #IAMaiatsis.

Friday

Mini Minties

Where: The Royal Australian Mint Education Room
When: 10:30 am to 11:15 am.
Cost: $10 (plus booking fee). Ticket includes one adult and one child, bookings through Eventbrite.

We’re all royalty in our own way, but one Queen has been on every Australian decimal currency coin since 1966. All 15 billion of them! Over time, she’s aged a little, and Mini Minties will be exploring all the different portraits of Queen Elizabeth II. The session will include story-telling, gallery exploration, and the chance to make your very own crown.

The Mint is delighted to welcome Mini-Minties back to the Royal Australian Mint (even though it may look a little different from what it did before), so additional measures will be in place to ensure the program is held in a safe manner and in compliance with current COVID-19 restrictions.

Saturday

Canberra Dragon Dance blessing of City Walk

Where: City Walk, Canberra City
When: 10:30 am to 11:15 am
Cost: Free.

Join Canberra Dragon Dance as they bless the new City Walk. Rescheduled from last Saturday, the walk has a Halloween theme and will be a free family-friendly show including a parade from the Civic Bus Interchange to City Walk.

Kids will perform with Night Fury, the black dragon, before a spectacular martial arts display. Watch Wakanda the Orange Lion as he fights a giant creepy crawly to keep all Canberrans safe!

Christmas Handmade Online Markets

Where: Online
When: 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
Cost: Free

Each Saturday in November you’ll have the chance to shop for some of the country’s best Australian handmade products and produce during our Christmas Online Markets.

There’s never been a more important year to support small business, and there’s no better time than the festive season to get behind our local makers. Plus, it’s the perfect chance to avoid the crowds and queues, and have everything shipped to your door in time for Christmas!

Sunday

Guided Nature Walk: Southern Tablelands Ecosystem

Where: National Arboretum, Forest Drive
When: 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Cost: Free, bookings essential via email.

Did you know that of 100 forests at the National Arboretum, there is only one with more than a single species of special tree growing?

On this gentle 1.5 to 2 hr walk, you can learn about the 16 species of eucalypts and many understorey shrubs, herbs and grasses that celebrate the diversity of native flora typical of the southern tablelands region of NSW/ACT.

Your hosts/guides will be the STEP community group, the highly knowledgeable carers of this often-missed forest located only a ‘stone’s throw’ from the Arboretum’s Centre.

Places will be limited so bookings are required.

Monday

Children’s online event for NAIDOC Week

Where: Online
When: 10:00 am
Cost: Free.

Two of Libraries ACT’s most popular kids programs will be having some special NAIDOC Week fun. Giggle and Wiggle Online, for ages 0 to 2, and Online Story Time, for ages 3 to 5 will be online until the Libraries branches reopen.

Tuesday

Know My Name Conference

Where: Online
When: Tuesday, 10 November through Friday, 13 November 3:00 pm
Cost: $55-$120 bookings essential.

Delivered virtually over four afternoons and two evenings, the Know My Name Conference celebrates and is inclusive of all women as artists, activists, researchers, intellectuals and mentors now and into the future.

Foregrounding diverse voices and with First Nations perspectives embedded across the program, the event will bring together leading and emerging Australian and international voices from arts and academia to share ideas, insights and creative practice.

Through keynotes, performances, panels, discussions and artist-led approaches, the conference will consider historical and contemporary experiences of gender and feminism in the arts to imagine new futures.

Mums and Bubs Yoga

Where: Balanced Yoga, 39 Jardine Street, Kingston
When: 10:00 am
Cost: Casual $25, 5-week pass $120, 10 week pass $220. Bookings here.

These classes focus on yoga postures that are specifically designed for the postnatal months. They explore gentle movement that will help your body regain strength and tone in a safe, loving and effective way. It is also a great opportunity to introduce your baby to yoga, promote mother and baby bonding and one of the most important values of The Mumma Hub, connect and share time with other new mums.

Wednesday

State of Origin at your local Vikings

Where: Vikings Chisholm, Vikings Erindale, Vikings Lanyon and Vikings Town Centre
When: Happy hour from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm, kick-off at 8:10 pm
Cost: Free entry.

After game one in the unfamiliar surrounds of Adelaide, Origin returns to Sydney for game two. With the Maroons fit and hungry for the title, and upsetting the favoured Blues with a rampaging second-half, NSW will have a challenge ahead to claim a three-peat. Do not miss Australia’s most-watched sporting event!

Vikings will also have a $5 Happy Hour from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm at all Vikings clubs.

Thursday

DESIGN Canberra ‘Great Day, Great Place’ at City Walk

Where: City Walk, Canberra
When: 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
Cost: Free.

Part of the annual DESIGN Canberra Festival, ‘Great Day, Great Place‘ in City Walk is a collaboration between the City Renewal Authority and Transport Canberra and City Services that challenges artists and community groups to respond to the theme of ‘care’.

Join us for a day in the sun to experience the new City Walk Upgrade as artists and community come together to show us what it means to care for place, care for each other and care for the world.

Presented as part of the annual DESIGN Canberra festival (9 to 29 November) which celebrates and promotes Canberra as a global city of design.