What's on in the Canberra arts scene from May 6, 2023

Toni Hassan's video series Between Presumption and Melancholy, on at PhotoAccess until June 10 - is a video series that reflects on Black Summer. Exploring personal and shared experiences, Hassan invites us to negotiate our relationship with a changing climate, and to see beauty and hope. Join Hassan for a public event conversation with one of the women in her collaborative artwork, volunteer firefighter and children's book author Rhiân Williams, on Sunday May 7 at 2pm.

A new exhibition by Canberra artist Kirsten Farrell opens at ANCA Gallery in Dickson at 6pm on Wednesday, May 10. In The Anything You Want Machine, Farrell challenges the persistent binary that textile is feminine and painting is masculine and revises the aesthetic value of plastic, proposing a future where plastic is a cherished and mystical material that signifies care, wisdom and feminine power. It's on until Sunday, May 28. See: anca.net.au.

National Opera's next Pocket Opera is Gaetano Donizetti's 1832 work in which a young man is tempted to use a love potion to gain the affection of Adina, a wealthier woman he thinks is out of his league. The best-known aria is Una furtiva lagrima (A furtive tear). It's at Albert Hall on May 11 at 6pm and May 13 at 2pm and 6pm. See: nationalopera.org.au.

At Canberra Contemporary Art Space Lakeside on Saturday, May 6 at 1pm will be two floor talks on Peter Maloney's exhibition THE MIRROR: Angles of Resistance. Exhibition curator Mark Bayly will talk about the role of text in Maloney's practice and National Gallery of Australia senior curator of photography Shaune Larkin will discuss the role of photography in Maloney's practice. See: ccas.com.au.

Suki and Hugh Gallery's latest exhibition contains new paintings by Australian artist Kathleen Rhee. The exhibition of works depicting nature focuses on the benefits of including art in daily life. The exhibition opens on Saturday, May 6 with a reception from 3pm to 5pm. Art Everyday runs until June 11. See: sukihugh.com.au.

Written by Robert Harling and first produced in 1987, this American play follows a group of close-knit southern female friends as they navigate life's ups and downs together. Through humour, heartache, and unwavering support, these women prove that they are as tough as steel and as beautiful as magnolias. Free-Rain Theatre Company's production, directed by Anne Somes, is on at ACT HUB, various dates and times from May 10 to 20. See: acthub.com.au.