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October 8

Hello Canberra,

This is a previous issue of the Canberra Digest newsletter.

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📆 Today: It’s Wednesday, 8 October. In this week's arts wrap there's Kabuki Theatre, Japanese ceramics and an arts day worth driving out to Bungendore for.

⛅️ Weather: 25°, windy and possible showers. A 50% chance of rain, most likely tonight.

🖼️ Arts Around Canberra

Kabuki Theatre: ANU Za Kabuki is the longest-running traditional Japanese kabuki troupe in the Southern Hemisphere. This year’s production, Keyamura, weaves together themes of betrayal, hidden identities, and revenge. With its bold characters, stylised fight scenes, and moments of both intensity and humour, Keyamura embodies everything that makes kabuki such a distinctive and thrilling art form. Performances include English subtitles to make the experience accessible to all. This is a rare chance to see kabuki theatre in Canberra. Details here.

Japanese Ceramics: Canberra Potters presents an exhibition by Masaru Nishikawa, one of Japan’s most renowned ceramicists. Known for his imaginative animal forms, Nishikawa uses colour and hand-building techniques to create expressive and often humorous works. Details here.

QLD Gals: Opening this Friday at the Canberra Art Gallery, QLD GALS features seven female artists whose works contrast explosive colour with stylish monochrome, and earthy ochres and bronze across a variety of mediums including painting, works on paper, and innovative sculpture. Details here.

Build, Burn, Repeat: A few weeks back, I mentioned Tom O’Hara’s exhibition Build, Burn, Repeat—a collection of complex wood sculptures at Thor’s Hammer. This weekend, O’Hara will host an afternoon talk, taking audiences inside the ideas and processes behind his work. Details here.

Explore Bungendore’s Arts Scene: The Queanbeyan-Palerang Arts Trail heads to Bungendore this weekend. Explore the galleries and home studios of local artists and makers. Notably, the Bungendore Wood Works Gallery—which had closed—will reopen for a special artists’ market as part of the trail. Details here.

Craft + Design Exhibitions: Two new exhibitions are opening this week at Craft + Design Canberra. Structured Connections highlights the work of three jewellers who have shared a workshop space since university and, for the past decade, at KIN Gallery. Beautiful Tensions: Gray Street Workshop Celebrates Forty Years tells the story of Adelaide’s JamFactory—a creative community that has enabled many artists to thrive. Details here.

Women Photographers: Since its inception, the National Gallery’s photography collection has reflected the vital role of women in the medium’s history. Some of its earliest acquisitions were major works by women. Women Photographers 1853–2018 showcases the transformative impact of women artists on the history of photography. The collection display opens on Saturday. Details here.

Snakes and Flowers: Canberra textile artist Rosalie Rose’s exhibition Snakes and Flowers honours cloth and slow-stitch—simplicity and patience that stand in quiet rebellion against unsustainable fibres and the fast pace of modern life. Each piece embodies simplicity through composition. On display at the Q Gallery in Ainslie from 10 October. Details here.

Tidbits

Qatar Flights: Qatar Airways is returning to Canberra from 2 December. The daily flights will operate via a stop in Melbourne (you won’t need to leave the plane) before continuing to Doha, with connections to more than 170 destinations. If you haven’t flown out of Canberra’s international terminal before, it’s worth considering; it’s far easier than transiting through Sydney or Melbourne! Qatar Airways joins Fiji Airways as the only two airlines currently operating from Canberra’s international terminal.

Girders Going Up: Construction of the flyover at the Monaro Highway and Lanyon Drive intersection is well underway. Forty bridge girders are being lifted onto the piers to form part of the bridge structure. Lanyon Drive, between the northbound and southbound carriageways of the Monaro Highway, will be closed next weekend to allow the girders to be safely installed. The closure will run from 7 pm Friday, 17 October to 5 am Monday, 20 October, with a detour in place through the Hume industrial estate.

Inner South Health Centre: The ACT Government is considering declaring the proposed Inner South Health Centre at the Griffith Shops a “Territory Priority Project.” Doing so would prevent any third-party appeals. The proposed declaration is now open for public consultation.

Nightlife: Mooseheads is Saying Farewell to the Car Park

The car park opposite Mooseheads, affectionately nicknamed the “Mooseheads Car Park,” is closing to make way for the construction of the new lyric theatre. The theatre plans don’t include a basement carpark, though the site—set to be released for future development—will hopefully require some form of parking in any new application.

Mooseheads is making the most of the moment. This Saturday evening, they’ll set up speakers along the colonnade facing the car park and a Farewell Mooseheads Carpark selfie station inside the car park. Details here.

Classifieds

🎄 Christmas Day Banquet: Have you planned your Christmas dinner? It's never too early to book for Christmas dinner! Celebrate the holiday season at Natural Nine, where festive cheer, great food, and good company create a Christmas to remember. Book now!

✨ Recharge & Rebalance – Half-Day Meditation Retreat: (Hawker – 11 Oct). Gift yourself a morning to pause, breathe, and reset. In this calming half-day retreat, you’ll learn (or deepen) practical, science-based meditation skills that ease stress, support resilience, and bring clarity to your busy mind. Guided by an experienced Canberra facilitator. Take the step towards calm — just $69. Get info & tickets now.

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