7 July 2021

Ten things to do in Canberra this week (7 - 13 August)

| Sharon Kelley
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National Dinosaur Museum

Catch the next podcast from the National Dinosaur Museum. Photo: Michelle Kroll.

There’s something for everyone in Canberra this week, whether it’s celebrating the return of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, the start of the Canberra Writers Festival or listening to the National Dinosaur Museum’s podcast with all the interesting facts parents, carers and teachers may have missed when they were supervising young children at the museum.

There’s plenty of art to be seen around the capital, with the M16 Studio Artists Exhibition including M16 Does Pizza, and Australian Dreams, and Picturing our Built World at the National Library of Australia. RISE Canberra’s Where You Are Festival presents Lakespeare & Co’s return to the stage with Rockspeare Richard III, while the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and the ANU Orchestra are streaming performances all weekend.

CIT has a freeform PMC Silver Workshop on Sunday which looks like a heap of fun, and there’s a special Spring Gardening Q&A hosted by the Canberra Environment Centre to help you prepare your own Floriade in your garden.

RISE Canberra also brings us That Poetry Thing with Koraly Dimitriadis and an open mic session at Smith’s Alternative which they will also livestream. Don’t forget to check the RISE Canberra website as there is plenty more to get into in Canberra this week.

All weekend

Australian Dreams

Australian Dreams, Picturing our Built World will be on exhibition at the National Library of Australia until 31 January 2021. Photo: Supplied.

Australian Dreams: Picturing our Built World

Where: Exhibition Gallery, Ground floor, National Library of Australia, Parkes Place
When:
Daily from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Cost: Free

Reflecting progress, social ideas, understanding of the world and how we have changed over time, the exhibition Australian Dreams: Picturing our Built World shows how artists have documented, interpreted and celebrated a variety of buildings from the Opera House and Flinders Street Station to the inner city terrace and the humble bush cottage.

Drawing exclusively from the collections of the National Library, the exhibition features photographs, prints, drawings and paintings by Augustus Earle, Conrad Martens, S T Gill, Eugene von Guérard, Lionel Lindsay, Harold Cazneaux, Olive Cotton, Mark Strizic, David Moore, Max Dupain, Jeff Carter, Ruth Maddison, Wolfgang Sievers and John Gollings.

For further information, head to the RISE Canberra website.

Canberra Symphony Orchestra

The CSO has embarked on a collaborative Virtual Orchestra project with the ANU School of Music. Photo: Supplied.

Canberra Symphony Orchestra and the ANU Orchestra

Where: Online
When:
On-demand
Cost: Free

Side by Side, Byte Size presents a short work by celebrated Australian composer Graeme Koehne in a virtual ‘side by side’ performance.

With artistic guidance from Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Dr Nicholas Milton AM, the CSO has embarked on a collaborative Virtual Orchestra project with the ANU School of Music. The project sees musicians of the CSO, the ANU Orchestra and the wider community record parts remotely for a number of virtual performances. Each performance is produced by the ANU School of Music, with audio engineering and video production by School of Music technical staff Matt Barnes and Craig Greening.

For further information, check out the RISE Canberra website.

Carmel McCrow

Carmel McCrow, Sweet Tarts. Photo: Supplied.

M16 Studio Artist’s Exhibition 2020: M16 Does Pizza

Where: Gallery 1, M16 Artspace, 21 Blaxland Crescent, Canberra
When: Until Sunday, 9 August, 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Cost: Free

Visit M16 to celebrate the 2020 M16 Studio Artist’s exhibition M16 Does Pizza. This year, the humble pizza box is the motivation for the exhibition and highlights the diversity of professional art practice at M16.

For more information, visit the RISE Canberra website.

Rockspeare

Rockspeare is directed by Lexi Sekuless, original compositions by Jay Cameron and costume design by Fiona Victoria Hopkins. Photo: Lakespeare and Co.

Rockspeare Richard III – presented by Lakespeare & Co

Where: Mallee Pavilion EPIC, Mitchell and online
When: 7 and 8 August, 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm
Cost: $22.19 – $85.49 per ticket (including booking fee)

Rockspeare: Richard III is a short version of William Shakespeare’s Richard III coming to you from right where you are as part of RISE Canberra’s #WhereYouAreFestival.

Be delighted in this electric and rhythmic performance from skilled Shakespearean actors either live at the Live In Ya Lounge studio or livestreamed for viewers at home. Read more about the show here.

For more information and to book tickets, visit the RISE Canberra website.

Friday

The National Dinosaur Museum

Reignite your love of all things prehistoric with Echoes from the Eons presented by #WhereYouAreFestival Photo: The National Dinosaur Museum.

Echoes from the Eons Podcast

Where: Online
When:
New episodes released each Friday
Cost: Free

Join the series of podcasts released on Friday each fortnight as part of the #WhereYouAreFestival with different themes based on the content housed at the National Dinosaur Museum, and answering the frequently asked questions that come from teachers and parents keen to learn more but have limited time in the museum while monitoring children. Read all about the idea behind the podcasts here.

To find out how you can listen from right where you are, visit the RISE Canberra website.

Sunday

A silver freeform workshop by CIT Short Courses

A silver freeform workshop by CIT Short Courses. Photo: Supplied.

Freeform PMC Silver Workshop

Where: Oxley Studio, CIT Bruce Campus
When:
12:30 pm
Cost: $175

Learn how to mould, dry, and polish silver clay to create a pendant or earrings of your own design. All materials included, but bookings are essential to secure your place. Tickets are available through CIT Solutions.

Monday

That Poetry Thing

That Poetry Thing is on again on Monday night with a special guest. Photo: Supplied.

That Poetry Thing: Koraly Dimitriadis + Open Mic

Where: Smith’s Alternative in Civic
When: 6:30 pm for a 7:00 pm start
Cost: $5 for unemployed, $10 for employed

Featuring the best of ACT and interstate poetry talent, plus a chance to perform your own poems on the open mic. On Monday 10 August, best-selling Melbourne poet and performer Koraly Dimitriadis will be the featured poet.

Koraly will join via Zoom to read from her poetry collections Just Give Me The Pills, and Love and F*ck Poems, and also some newer work. Koraly will be ‘on the big screen’ at Smith’s, for a select COVID-safe crowd of 20.

The rest of the audience can watch along on Zoom. Includes an extended open mic section, for both live attendees and Zoom attendees.

For further information and to make bookings head over to the RISE Canberra website.

Tuesday

The Spring Gardening Q & A

Hosted by the Canberra Environment Centre, the Spring Gardening Q & A will be held on Tuesday evening. Photo: Supplied.

Spring Gardening Q & A hosted by the Canberra Environment Centre

Where: Online – receive the link when you register with Eventbrite
When:
5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Cost: Free

Ask them anything about spring veggie gardening in Canberra, and everything you want to know about growing food in spring in Canberra.

In this free online session, gardening experts will cover the basics of starting a veggie garden in Canberra, and answering all your questions about organic food gardening.

This is an online course conducted over the videoconferencing platform Zoom.

Register via Eventbrite to receive the meeting link.

Wednesday

Dennis Foley and Peter Read

Dennis Foley and Peter Read explore Aboriginal Sydney’s history for the Canberra Writers Festival 2020 on Wednesday 12 August. Photo: Supplied.

What the colonists never knew: A History of Aboriginal Sydney, with Dennis Foley and Peter Read

Where: National Museum of Australia – Discovery Centre and Online
When: 4:30 pm
Cost: $15 for children 15 years and under, $20 for concession and $25 for adults or $10 for the live-streamed show

Peter Read and Dennis Foley explore the history of Aboriginal Sydney and paint a vivid picture of what it was like to grow up Aboriginal in Sydney, alongside the colonists, from 1788 to the present and give an honest account of the disappointment, pain and terror experienced by Sydney’s First Peoples and a celebration of the survival of their spirit.

Buy your tickets here for the live show, and here for the live stream.

Thursday

Gloria Steinem

Gloria Steinem will be in conversation with Kirstin Ferguson as part of the Canberra Writers Festival 2020. Get your tickets now. Photo: Supplied.

The Truth Will Set You Free, But First it Will Piss You Off! Gloria Steinem in conversation with Kirstin Ferguson

Where: Live stream
When: 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm
Cost: $10 per ticket, or 3 tickets for $15

Gloria Steinem calls herself a ‘hopeaholic’ and says now, more than ever, the world needs unbiased hope for the future. From New York, the iconic feminist shares personal challenges, political issues and the poetry of everyday life with Dr Kirstin Ferguson.

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