Here’s arts editor HELEN MUSA’s latest loop around what’s happening where in this week’s Artsweek.

Oz Comic-Con promises to be a big weekend of cosplay, gaming, family fun and pop culture. It features the Aussie Championships of Cosplay, Artist Alley and family-friendly workshops, with free entry for children under 12 with any adult general admission. Exhibition Park, August 9-10.

Pepper, the quick-witted humanoid and Robotics expert Dr Maleen Jayasuriya will be giving live demos, a rapid-fire Q&A and plenty of “aha!” moments, as part of Science Week. Canberra Museum + Gallery, August 12. Free event.

ANU’s Centre for Classical Studies’ program has Dan Zhao talking on the subject, The Politics of Freeing Slaves: Manumission Laws in Early Imperial Rome and China, AD Hope Conference Room, August 13.

Multilingual Poetry Open Mic will be back again, this time featuring poet Manoj Regmi, originally from Nepal. Smith’s Alternative, August 11.

Concerts

• Art Garfunkel praised The Simon & Garfunkel Story as “a great show” when he surprised the cast on stage after attending a New York performance in 2024. The show will be at the Canberra Theatre, August 8.
• SoundOut Art Ensemble is performing new work at the ANU Drill Hall Gallery, August 8.
• Alexander Gavrylyuk on piano and David Elton on trumpet, with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, will feature in Gershwin & Shostakovich, Llewellyn Hall, August 9.
• Wollongong trio Lyhra’s launch of its new album Live at Church Street Studios, at Tuggeranong Arts Centre’s Jazz Haus, August 9.
• Baroque oboe expert Geoffrey Burgess will join the Canberra Bach Ensemble for its next cantata program, St Christopher’s Cathedral, Manuka, August 9-10.
• Two of Canberra’s premier big bands, Blamey Street Big Band & ConneXion, will present Cool Music: Hot Brass. The Polo, Turner, August 10.
• The Merry Muse has The Banksi Sisters and the Go Twos, at The Canberra Irish Club, Weston, August 10.
• Brindabella Orchestra will be taking a musical journey with Beethoven, Mozart, Elgar, Borodin, Silvestri and Lloyd Webber. Weston Community Hub, August 10.

Stage

• Dylan Van Den Berg’s new Aboriginal Gothic play, The Chosen Vessel, is premiering at The Street Theatre, August 9-24.
• M’ap Boulé, created and performed by Nancy Denis, who tells stories from her journey to embrace her black, queer, Haitian and Australian identities. The Q, Queanbeyan, August 8.
• Tanya Losanno, Jacqui Richards and Trish Hurley are reprising their Canberra Comedy Festival show The Women’s Room – Underestimated, as part of the LOL comedy season. The Courtyard Studio, August 8.
• Sarah Stewart’s first solo comedy show, Midwife Crisis, will also be part of part of the LOL season at The Courtyard Studio, August 9.

Galleries

• Q Gallery is a new art space in Canberra, which is exhibiting Animalia, a group show of more than 80 works by 54 Australian artists (mostly Canberran) showcasing the natural world through art, featuring animals. At Ainslie Shops, August 8-23.