Here’s HELEN MUSA’s latest Artweek column, a guide to what’s on where this week.

Brass-fuelled darkness reigns as Brass Knuckle Brass Band transforms the former Transit Bar into a techno-brass pressure cooker for a one-night-only plunge into  European-inspired sound, Bailey’s Corner, February 14.

The Bald Archy Prize returns with satirical bite, once again judged by sulphur-crested cockatoo Maude and awarding the nation’s sharpest portraiture with irreverent flair, Canberra Potters Gallery Watson Arts Centre, opens February 12.

Music & Mayhem: Rebellion explodes on to the stage as a fierce queer punk cabaret from Jazida Productions, pairing live punk music by Nonbinarycode with fire eating, burlesque and drag in a bold celebration of queer joy and creative resistance, Louie Louie upstairs Verity Lane, February 14.

Ausdance ACT presents a contemporary dance workshop where Wiradjuri story collides with a techno beat, led by Garabari’s artistic director and choreographer Joel Bray, offers powerful blend of cultural narrative and contemporary movement practice, D Block Studio Gorman Arts Centre, February 18.

Stage

• Zindzi Okenyo and her dancing Zillionaires will be celebrating friendship, generosity and the joy of music in a feel-good theatre outing for young and old alike, Canberra Theatre, February 14.
• La Souris Blanche peels back the legend of Nancy Wake in a French-language play with English surtitles, revealing the complexity behind the myth of The White Mouse in a theatrical portrait of wartime courage, The Street Theatre, February 18–20.

Galleries

• Grainger Gallery reopens in Fyshwick with an inaugural exhibition by GW Bot, Regeneration Glyphs, marking a major moment for the local visual arts scene, February 12-March 1.
• Sculpted by Lifestyle sees ceramicist Lee Nelms reimagine the seven deadly sins through an unapologetically Australian lens, Craft and Design Canberra, Civic, February 12.
• The Measure of Things marks Dee Hopkins’ first solo exhibition. The Queanbeyan Hive, February 13-March 1.
• Tuggeranong Arts Centre opens three exhibitions in one evening, February 13.

Concerts

• Yuki Saito, one of Japan’s most compelling young guitarists, Wesley Music Centre, February 12.
• Peruvian guitarist Eduardo Ruiz and Colombian soprano Paola Monroy will join National Carillon senior carillonist Thomas Laue in a concert, Bells & Serenades: Love Songs, National Carillon, February 14.
• Simon Tedeschi and George Washingmachine will perform together in Tuggeranong Arts Centre’s Jazz series, Tuggeranong Arts Centre, February 14.
• Joshua Han, winner of the 2024 Australian National Piano Award, joins local piano star Bernice Chua for Beethoven and Beyond, Wesley Music Centre, February 14.
• Canberra Bach Ensemble opens its season with a program of Bach cantatas directed by Andrew Koll, St Christopher’s Cathedral, February 14-15.
• Accordion virtuoso James Crabb headlines Accordion Dances, Gandel Hall National Gallery, February 15.
• Art Song Canberra launches its Season of Song with Amy Moore and Edward Neeman performing Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben, Embassy of Hungary, February 15.
• The Australian Chamber Orchestra launches its 2026 season under Richard Tognetti with Croatian pianist Dejan Lazić tackling Rachmaninov’s Paganini Rhapsody, Llewellyn Hall, February 18.
• The Wesley Lunchtime Concert series welcomes pianist Sam Row in a midday program of Grieg, Wesley Music Centre, February 18.
• The Merry Muse returns with a line up of talent, featuring Emmy Ryan, The Lonely Fates as a duo and local performers including Lisa Richards, Simone, Craig Dawson, Greg Wilson and North and Elsewhere, Canberra Irish Club, February 18.