Here’s HELEN MUSA’s latest Artsweek column, a weekly guide to what happening and where around the Canberra arts scene.

Questacon’s newest exhibition ZAP! CLANK! POW! kicks off this week with shocking and surprising science that powers the planet and makes things move. Through 17 interactive exhibits, visitors will be able to explore the worlds of electricity, machines, and motion. Questacon, Parliamentary Triangle, May 31-February 1, 2026.

To mark the ACT’s Reconciliation Day, Gomeroi man, rapper and storyteller Kobie Dee will headline a family-friendly event at Commonwealth Park, June 2.

Galleries

• The Lost Sea by Lizzie Hallis an elegy to the artist’s late father and to the Aral Sea, a vast inland sea in Uzbekistan that has almost completely dried up due to Soviet mismanagement in the 1960s. Platform, Manuka, opens May 29.
• Uplands by Andy Sumner is at Kyeema Gallery, Capital Wines, Hall, May 29-June 29.
• The new Canberra Art Gallery opens as “a place that simply showcases art” at 100 Barrier Street, Fyshwick, May 30.
• The new Q Gallery, Ainslie, is opening with an exhibition by Adam Blackshaw on May 30.
• A new exhibition, Amor Es Alegría, by artist Carlos Barrios, features recent works by Barrios himself along with 22 never-before-shown works by his close friend and mentor John Olsen, with whom he worked from 2014 to 2018. Aarwun Gallery, Gold Creek, May 31-June 15.
• Rich and Rare is a “submersive’”exhibition by Canberra artist, Jacqui Malins. ANCA Gallery, Dickson, June 4-22.

Stage

• It’s time for comedy with Tempo Theatre’s LoveBirds, Belconnen Community Theatre, May 30-June 7.
• Scenes from the Climate Era, The Q, Queanbeyan, June 4-5.

Music

• Thelma Plum’s I’m Sorry Where Is That regional tour stops at UC Refectory, Bruce, on May 30.
• Ben O’Loghlin, a founding member of Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen, has a new gig with young guitarist Michael Larsen on Friday nights at High Road, Dickson.
• Bandura player and soprano Larissa Kovalchuk and pianist Anna Dove will perform a program of Ukrainian pieces along with works by Rossini, Gershwin, and Bach/Gounod. Wesley Music Centre, Forrest, May 31.
• Singer songwriter Lior will perform intimate concert of songs drawn from his back catalogue in stripped-back trio mode, with bass and piano, and songs from his latest release, The Blue Parade. The Street Theatre, May 31.
• Koebi Famui, tells a personal story in the launch of his new single, Your Theme Song, Gang Gang Café, Watson, June 1.
• Geoff’s Jazz at Smith’s has Ben Lerner Quartet on May 29 and Greg Stott Quartet, June 4. Smith’s Alternative, Civic.