Great National Science Week arts and entertainment stories up for grabs now around Australia
- Venusian volcanologist and NASA astrophysicist joins Baroque orchestra – Perth
- What does DNA sound like? 80s pop drummer reveals all at the Opera House – Sydney
- Rock Hard! The Geological Cabaret: cocktail hour geology, sharp wit and a shimmer of burlesque. No safety glasses required – Dubbo, NSW
- How the birds got their colours: Dreamtime through circus and dance – Darwin
- Legally blind artist drives multisensory Quantum Year exhibition – Melbourne, Sydney Brisbane
- Can environmental arts activism save the world? – Wyangala & Cowra, NSW
- Outsmart AI and see how the stars of Japan’s ‘Cat Heaven Island’ respond to their own video images in Science Gallery Melbourne’s DISTRACTION exhibition – Melbourne
- Aurora-chasers capture the rarely-seen ‘STEVE’ and other phenomena in Tassie – Hobart
- Dancers with disability pollinate science and inclusion – Canberra
- Giant puppet insects take centre stage – Penrith
More on these below and visit ScienceWeek.net.au/events to find more stories in your area.
Individual event details and media contacts
Space music with NASA astrophysicist and orchestra in Perth – Kwinana, WA
Dr Antony Brian – an astrophysicist, planetary geologist and Venusian volcanologist (who mapped the surface of Venus for NASA) – is on a mission to launch Baroque concertgoers into deep space.
In ‘Space Music’, he joins forces with Perth-based orchestra Australian Baroque providing accompaniment in the form of striking NASA images.
The multi-sensory experience takes place at Koorliny Arts Centre in Kwinana.
Saturday 16 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/space-music-presented-by-australian-baroque/waikiki/
Media enquiries: Brad Coleman, brad@australianbaroque.com or 0403 539 529.
Dr Antony Brian is available for media interviews.
What does DNA sound like? – Sydney, NSW
Join 80s pop drummer-turned-molecular biology scientist, Dr Mark Temple, for a live performance at the Opera House.
The Hummingbirds ex-drummer, now based at Western Sydney University, shares a novel perspective on genetic information, including music created from eucalyptus and myrtle rust DNA.
Tuesday 12 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/synthetic-compositions-music-made-from-artificial-dna-sequences/sydney
Media enquiries: Dr Mark Temple, m.temple@westernsydney.edu.au or 0412 600 712
Dr Temple is available for media interviews. Before completing his PhD in molecular biology, he was a professional musician/drummer in Australian indie-rock group, The Hummingbirds. In 2020, he created Coronacode Music. The composition substitutes regions of the coronavirus genome with computer-generated musical notes. And, in 2017, he published a study in BMC Bioinformatics on how audio can be used to distinguish a gene sequence from repetitive DNA: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12859-017-1632-x
Live visuals of DNA sequences will be projected in sync with the music.
Striptease meets ‘dirty’ science – Dubbo, NSW
Canberra-based researcher Dr Karina Judd returns to her hometown Dubbo for a smart, sexy, adults-only exploration of geological and earth sciences.
By day, Dr Judd researches science-engineering-social science collaboration for sustainable futures at the Australian National University.
By night, she moonlights as ‘Roxie’ in her one-woman cabaret Rock Hard! The Geological Cabaret.
What to expect? Cocktail hour geology with sultry songs, smouldering dance, sharp wit and a shimmer of burlesque. No safety glasses required.
Saturday 9 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/rock-hard-the-geological-cabaret/dubbo
Media enquiries: Dr Karina Judd, karina.judd@gmail.com or 0448 318 748.
Dr Judd, who wrote and produced Rock Hard! The Geological Cabaret, is available for media interviews. She studied environmental geology at UNSW Sydney, specialising in soil and mineral chemistry before completing Honours in geology showcasing soil chemistry techniques as a useful tool in identifying past tsunami. And she is a seasoned performer of cabaret, burlesque and dance. See ANU profile: https://cpas.anu.edu.au/people/karina-judd
How the birds got their colours – Darwin, NT
Dreamtime through circus and dance
Yugambeh Elder Luther Cora and Arc Circus tell the Dreamtime story of ‘How the Birds Got Their Colours’.
This Indigenous-led outdoor performance forms part of the Darwin Festival in partnership with the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.
Wednesday 13 August – Sunday 17 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/how-the-birds-got-their-colours/the-gardens
Media enquiries: Alison Copley, Alison.Copley@magnt.net.au or 0438 111 343.
Legally blind artist and musician collaborate in multisensory science exhibition to celebrate Quantum Year – Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane
‘A Different Light: Multisensory Science Books of X-Ray Crystallography’ touring exhibition builds on the work of the Monash Sensory Science initiative and will be delivered through partnerships with Vision Australia (VIC), Next Sense (NSW), Braille House (QLD) and other key educational organisations.
Designed by legally blind artist Dr Erica Tandori, from Monash University’s Rossjohn Laboratory, and designer/musician Dr Stu Favilla, from Swinburne University of Technology, it explores hidden atomic structures and protein formations revealed through X-ray crystallography in a series of 10 multisensory science books.
Showcasing accessible and inclusive science during Quantum Year, the exhibition enables blind, low vision and diverse needs (BLVDN) audiences to connect with cutting-edge Australian science and scientists (past and present) – including Nobel Prize winners Henry and Lawrence Bragg, the Australian father-and-son duo who pioneered X-ray crystallography.
It also features interactive mock-ups of the Braggs’ X-ray crystallography machines from the early 20th Century, image and data sonification, science inspired electronic music, and tactile artworks and graphics that represent atomic structures, diffraction patters and protein formations.
Media enquiries: Dr Erica Tandori, Erica.Tandori@monash.edu or 0407 806 733.
Dr Erica Tandori and Dr Stu Favilla are available for media interviews.
Art of endangered birds & environmental activism – Wyangala and Cowra, NSW
Exploring endangered birds through drawing, collage and wet collodion photography will be one of the highlights of a series of workshops, talks and exhibitions focused on environmentalism during ERTHWRX25.
The multi-day event celebrates 10 years of science, arts and cultural programming across Central West NSW, and also features Wiradjuri night sky stories with cultural knowlede holder Doug Sutherland.
The initiative is orgnised by the CORRIDOR project (a not-for-profit multidisciplinary arts and cultural organisation) and Orange Cowra Cabonne Science Hub, bringing together community, scientists, cultural knowledge holders, artists, architects, ecologists, and academics.
Key topics include:
- Biodiversity conservation and regenerative farming
- Cultural museum collections and First Nations astronomy
- Global wildlife disease and planetary systems
- Soil health, mycology and earth sciences
- Circular economies, water sustainability and renewable energy
Saturday 9 August & Sunday 10 August (The CORRIDOR Project, Wyangala)
www.scienceweek.net.au/event/erthwrx25/wyangala/
Saturday 16 August & Sunday 17 August (Micro Gallery Cowra)
Media enquiries: Phoebe Cowdery, phoebe@thecorridorproject.org or 0413 910 697
Artists find meaning in digital distraction – Melbourne, VIC
See how Japanese cats respond to videos of their own image on ‘Cat Island’.
Outsmart AI in ‘Deviation Game’, drawing things that only humans understand.
Join a comedic televised set, ‘Pledge Drive for Attention’.
University of Melbourne’s Science Gallery explores how we can ‘harness the cacophony of digital content and find meaning within it’ through interactive games, play and technology in its free ‘DISTRACTION’ exhibition.
Highlights include:
- Deviation Game, by UK-based Studio Playfool, invites you to draw things that humans can understand but an image-recognition AI can’t.
- Cat Island, by Jen Valender, merges animal colour perception research from University of Melbourne’s Stuart-Fox Lab with technology that explores how cats on Japan’s Ainoshima Island (aka ‘Cat Heaven Island’) respond to digital stimuli, such as screen videos of their own image.
- Melbourne artist Xanthe Dobbie’s Unoriginal Sin focuses on the concept of ‘mean images’ (coined by artist Hito Steyerl) in an immersive video installation.
- US artist and Institute for Comedic Inquiry founder Laura Allcorn’s Pledge Drive for Attention opens the door to a comedic set based on a televised pledge drive, exploring how our attention spans are zapped by digital distractions.
From Saturday 26 July. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/distraction/parkville/
Media enquiries: Katrina Hall, kathall@ozemail.com.au or 0421 153 046.
Aurora-chasers capture the rarely-seen ‘STEVE’ and other phenomena in Tassie – Hobart, TAS
Find out:
- what causes mesmerising aurora displays like arcs, rays, curtains and a rare phenomenon called STEVE
- why Tasmania is the best place in the world to see the Southern Lights (aka Aurora Australis).
See how space weather, solar activity and particles from the Sun create epic displays when they hit Earth’s atmosphere in the ‘Southern Nights’ exhibition at Salamanca Arts Centre.
Timed during the 2025 solar maximum (11-year peak of Sun’s activity) the exhibition brings together award-winning photography, timelapse footage and a ‘live aurora dashboard’ providing real-time space weather data.
Saturday 9 August – Monday 18 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/southern-nights-the-science-beauty-of-aurora-australis/hobart/
Media enquiries: Luke Tscharke, hello@southernnights.com.au / luke@luketscharke.com or 0422 171 453.
Dancers with disability pollinate science and inclusion – Canberra, ACT
Explore the importance of bees for ecology, biodiversity and our food train through ‘BuzzACT’, a dance-and-science show for children.
Canberra’s inclusive dance performance group, The Chamaeleon Collective, comprises 70% of artists living with disability, chronic illness and/or PTSD.
Launched in 2020, The Chamaeleon Collective, is part of The Stellar Company, founded by dance artist/choreographer/producer, Liz Lea. The initiative provides professional mentoring and career pathways for emerging artists with and without disability.
Sunday 10 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/buzzz-act-2/gungahlin/
Sunday 17 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/buzzz-act/majura-park/
Media enquiries: Liz Lea, director@thestellarcompany.com
Liz Lea is available for media interviews.
Giant puppet insects take centre stage – Penrith, NSW
Giant but friendly creepy crawlies become heroes in Beetle, inviting kids to discover Australian bush habitats through puppetry, circus, physical theatre and animation.
The show by Sydney-based theatre company, Legs On The Wall, tells an enchanting story of sustainability via a child’s quest to find the now elusive Christmas Beetle.
Friday 8 August – Saturday 9 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/beetle-by-legs-on-the-wall/penrith/
Media enquiries: Fleur Wells, fleur.wells@penrith.city or 0415 348 528.