Here’s arts editor HELEN MUSA with her latest Artsweek column.

The Dish will screen for National Science Week, followed by a Q&A with radio astronomer Mark Price, who worked at the Parkes Radio Telescope during the Apollo 11 moon landing. National Film and Sound Archive, August 23.

SCINEMA brings a weekend of science films to Canberra as part of National Science Week, with free screenings of the best of the festival program and introductions by Festival Director Cris Kennedy, along with special guests. Mill Theatre at Dairy Road, August 22 and 23.

Family History Month continues at Lanyon Homestead with Turn Back Time, a program inspired by earlier life in Canberra, featuring music, traditional crafts and immersive experiences. Lanyon Homestead, August 22.

Hugh White will discuss his new book, Hard New World, Our Post American Future, in conversation with Allegra Spender as part of the ANU Meet the Author series; the event is free. Lowitja O’Donoghue Cultural Centre, August 25.

The Canberra premiere of The Plastic Country, a film by Cr Kal Glanznig, will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker, while the Dirrum Dirrum Festival will bring an afternoon and evening program to the same venue the following day. Heath Lecture Theatre, Radford College, August 21 and 22.

Stage

• Comedian Josh Thomas brings his latest stand up show, Jiggle Jiggle, promising an hour of deliberately silly, happy and unimportant comedy designed simply to give audiences a good time. The Playhouse, August 21.
• Four actors take on multiple roles in Saplings, bringing to life stories of young Australians confronting a legal system the play argues is stacked against them. The Q, Queanbeyan, August 22.
• Free-Rain Theatre Company presents I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, the much-loved musical comedy about love, relationships and the many complications of modern romance. ACT Hub, August 19 to September 5.

Concerts

• National Opera presents Opera in the Drawing Room as part of the Turn Back Time series, recreating the elegance and entertainment of the 18th and 19th centuries through two 30 minute concert sessions, with morning tea and lunch available as part of the experience. Lanyon Homestead, August 22.
• Apeiron Baroque continues its 2026 Chamber Series with The Green Piper, featuring guest artist Simon Rickard in a program celebrating the colour, character and energy of baroque music. Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest, August 23.
• The Wesley Lunchtime Concert series features talented young AMUSA students Amber Ye, Kaylem Kua and Rosy Zhu from Elena Nikulina’s piano studio, performing works spanning Bach and Handel through to Brahms, Chaminade, Balakirev and Glinka. Wesley Uniting Church, August 26.
• Zoltán Szabo and Nicholas Kennedy present a cello and period instruments recital contrasting Beethoven and Rachmaninoff, with rare instruments from the ANU Historical Keyboard Collection anchoring a program exploring period and modern sound worlds. Larry Sitsky Recital Room, ANU School of Music, August 26.

Galleries

• Canberra Contemporary presents its 2026 Members Show, bringing together work by members of the organisation in an exhibition opening with a special evening launch. Platform, Canberra Contemporary, Furneaux St Manuka, August 21 to September 13.
• The National Photographic Portrait Prize opens with a showcase of contemporary Australian portrait photography, before touring nationally following its Canberra season. National Portrait Gallery, August 22 to October 11.
• Christiane Keller’s Weaving the Coast celebrates the coastal environment through sculptural fibre works, while Karen McSwan Silsby presents Chaos and Order, a collection of abstract paintings and Adelaide Worcester’s Toxic examines bullying and toxic workplace cultures through sculptural and wall-based works. All at Tuggeranong Arts Centre, August 21.
• Les Fleurs brings together artists responding to flowers in a range of mediums and styles, from abstract interpretations to realistic studies, celebrating blooms in all their forms as winter draws to a close. Q Gallery, Ainslie shops, August 21 to September 9.

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