Mid-winter has passed by, and this means that Spring is on its way. It will come. Time to get out and feel the air!
Don looks around for the guides to what’s on in Canberra: BMA [Bands, music, action!] magazine, “Canberra’s Entertainment Guide”; film festival booklets from Palace Cinemas; and this month the third issue of Penguin Books’ free underline magazine, and the eighth issue of the Australian Ballet’s free fortnightly Balletomane magazine.
July
Until 27 August: National Library, “Melodrama in Meiji Japan“. 19th century woodblock prints for book illustration.
Until 10 September: NGA, “Defying Empire: 3rd National Indigenous Art Triennial. An exhibition responding to the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Referendum. Free entry.
Monday 17 July: 6.30 p.m., Dendy Cinema launch of “Seeing from Within: a film about Barbara Blackman“.
Tuesday 18 July: 5.30, National Library, “Jane Austen“. Free lecture by Prof. Devoney Looser from the Univ. of Arizona. RSVP 6125-4357.
From 18 July on: National Library, “Waving the Red Flag: Chinese Posters, 1949-1976“.
18 July: at the Palace Cinemas, Scandinavian Film Festival. Various screening times.
Wednesday 19 July: Refugee Action Committee, National Day of Action, Protest Four Years of Shame. In 2013 Kevin Rudd announced that no boat people would ever settle in Australia. More information here.
– Peak hour action, 8 to 9 a.m., Barry Drive/Northbourne Ave, Antill St/Northbourne Ave, Melrose/Hindmarsh Drive, Woden.
– Lunchtime protest, 12.30-1.30 p.m., Dept. of Immigration & Border Protection, Chan St, Belconnen.
– Vigil, Garema Place, Civic, 6 p.m.
Thursday 20 July at 6 p.m. and Saturday 22 July at 11 a.m.: “Mr Stink” at the Canberra Theatre Centre. The same director as “The Wharf Revue”, Jonathan Biggins! Probably a bit different: this one is for 6 to 12-year-olds and their adults.
Tuesday 25 to Saturday 29 July: George Orwell’s “1984″ at the Canberra Theatre Centre, 7.30 p.m. and a matinee at 1.30 on Saturday. https://canberratheatrecentre.com.au/show/1984/
Thursday 27 July: 6.45 p.m., Dendy Cinema, special community screening of “The Staging Post: What happened after Australia ‘stopped the boats‘”, with the film-makers Jolyon Hoff and Muzafar Ali. The last screening sold out: here’s your chance to catch it.
August
Thursday 3 August to Saturday 5 August: 7.30 p.m., “Bennelong“, Bangarra Dance Theatre at the Canberra Theatre Centre. Matinee 1.30 p.m. on Saturday. https://canberratheatrecentre.com.au/show/bennelong/
Wednesday 23 August: Paco Peña and the Grigoryan Brothers in “Guitarra”, with Jim Pennell and Phil Manning, at the Southern Cross Club, 8 p.m. Tickets $83.25 plus fee, show only, or pay more for dinner as well.
Friday to Sunday 25 to 27 August: Canberra Writers Festival: Power, Politics, Passion. Tickets on sale, canberrawritersfestival.com.au
September
Tuesday 12 to Saturday 23 September: Canberra Theatre, “The Wharf Revue: Making Politics Great Again“. 8 p.m., with matinee Sat. 16 September at 2 p.m. Bookings 6275-2700.
20 September to 12 October: at the Palace Cinemas, Italian Film Festival.
30 September: Dalisa Pigram in “gudirr gudirr“, at the Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre, at 8 p.m. From the Sydney Festival in 2014, a dance performance that is beautiful and troubling, and probably unmissable.
October
25 October to 16 November: at the Palace Cinemas, British Film Festival.
26 October to 16 November: Russian Film Festival. russianresurrection.com
November
10 to 12 November: Major’s Creek music festival.