A most unusual launch for a most unusual venture took place in the Juliet room upstairs at the Verity Lane Markets on Monday evening, reports arts editor HELEN MUSA.

The brainchild of Czech-born artist, photographer and founder of PT Gallery, Petra Jungmanova, a pop-up gallery is being ushered in with a storytelling and musical event, backed by a bookshop with curated titles.

The four-night mini-festival features the talent of a new musical duo, speeches, Death Cycle, an exhibition of black-and-white art by Newcastle-Canberra artist Charlotte James and a very personal print memoir, Just the Two of Us, by Jungmanova herself.

While Monday night’s opening event was ushered in with vocalist Teresa Wojcik and pianist Kat Kessler treating us to Cole Porter, Richard Rogers and even Vera Lynn, the storytelling was to the fore.

The opening was featured as a fringe event for the ACT Heritage Festival, so its co-ordinator Linda Roberts was on hand to set the scene with a timely warning: “History has shown that to conquer a people you must obliterate its culture.”

Australia, she said, had a poor report card in this respect and although certainly not as egregious as the destructions of the Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taliban, we have only to look at what happened to the Capitol Theatre and the old Northbourne Avenue flats to see evidence of cultural obliteration.

The centrepiece of the evening was a tribute by eminent historian Jenny Horsfield to the late legendary bookshop owner, farmer, Russophile, and pacifist, Verity Hewitt, after whom the markets were named.

After more song, the evening continued with Michael McKernan talking about the first 10 years of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

Jungmannova’s mini-festival of art and thought continues until Thursday with the music and exhibitions continuing throughout.

Tuesday features Nicolas Brown’s talk, Among the Homeless, the Upstarts and the Parvenus: Canberra’s many layers in 1940s and Yanni Efkarpidis discussing Canberra, the ever-changing city.

Wednesday will see a focus on Bush Ballads and War Poems, then Brad Tucker will talk on the past, present and future of Mt Stromlo Observatory.

On the final day, Thursday, Horsfield will return to talk about Verity Hewitt and bushwalking in the Brindabellas, Sivaram Narayanamoorthy will perform on didgeridoo, and there will be Picnic at Hanging Jungmanova intends to hold such pop-up events every two months.

PT Gallery, she says, is “a space to stir and to be stirred”.

 PT Gallery pop-up nights, Juliet Room, Sydney Building, evening, April 28-May 1. All welcome.