VISUAL ARTS

Tjala – Emerging Artists, Elements Art Gallery, 131A Waratah Avenue, Dalkeith.
Amata, a remote indigenous community situated amongst the picturesque Musgrave Ranges, approximately 120km south of Uluru and 500km southwest of Alice Springs, has been producing Aboriginal art and craft since the 1970s. Curated by philanthropist and art patron Dr Jo Lagerberg, Tjala – Emerging Artists features a range of vibrant and affordable artwork that represents the culture of this isolated community.
Exhibition opens on Thursday, May 5, and runs ’til Friday, May 20.

New Works, Perth Galleries, 92 Stirling Highway, North Fremantle.
Chris Hopewell’s New Works reflects his ongoing inspiration and interest in the graffiti-worn billboards and surfaces on New York subways that he observed while travelling between 1990–2006. His gestural acrylic works and small ‘tear sheet’ collaged works are process orientated, incorporating gestured marks, tones and textures with layering of photographic collage. These woven dimensions of randomly connected environments evoke a model for how layered thoughts, memories, and dreams might integrate and be recorded. 
Exhibition opens on Friday, May 6, and runs ’til Sunday, May 29.

Benevolent Asylum, Fremantle Arts Centre, 1 Finnerty Street, Fremantle.
Lily Hibberd’s Benevolent Asylum is a large, rambling installation of television screens, posters and sculpture which for four nights also becomes the theatre set for Take Me In, a performance written and directed by Hibberd. Take Me In follows two central characters - Bea, a child prostitute and Ward, a convict who goes mad, as they travel from the Thames in London to the Swan River in Perth. Take Me In explores the complexities of institutionalism and the maddening effect of solitary confinement through documentary and fiction and the story of exile and institutional confinement in Australia.
Exhibition runs from Saturday, May 21, ’til Sunday, July 17; Take Me In will be performed between Friday, June 2, and Friday, June 10. Performance bookings can be made by calling (08) 9432 9555 or by visiting fac.org.au.

Washed Away, Outré Gallery Perth, 260 William Street, Northbridge.
A collaborative art team consisting of good friends Kozy and Dan, kozyndan are based in Los Angeles but they’ll trek out to Perth in May for Washed Away at Outré. This fresh show promises to embrace the pair’s love for the ocean with a series of intricate artworks that depict mysteries, surprises and enigmas unfolding from watery waves. The works are about the artists’ own experiences in and about our oceans and reflect a great respect for the natural environments matched with casting a critical eye over our cultural disregard for the sensitivities of the marine world.
Exhibition opens on Saturday, May 7, and runs ’til Sunday, May 29.

Island Life, Venn, 16 Queen Street, Perth.
Through a sustained exploration of monoprinting, a method of printmaking utilising printing ink and oil paint, Clare Davies has produced a distinctive series of deftly coloured prints that oscillate between abstraction and figuration. In this body of work Davies interrogates the use of figuration, provoking a move towards abstraction and an examination of perspective.
Exhibition opens on Friday, May 6, and runs ’til Friday, June 3.

PERFORMANCE

Anytown, The Blue Room Theatre, 53 James Street, Northbridge.
Stuck in their secretive, incestuous rural town, Dixie, the nubile town strumpet, wants what she wants; her parents, Bella and Charlie, hanker after more than they’ve settled for; Angus has overstayed his welcome, Paulie thinks way too loud… and who the hell is Stranger? Written by Hellie Turner with direction by Janet Pettigrew, Anytown is a compelling exploration of the human condition.
Season opens on Tuesday, May 10, and runs ’til Saturday, May 28. Bookings can be made by calling (08) 9227 7005 or visiting blueroom.org.au.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Heath Ledger Theatre, State Theatre Centre Of WA, Northbridge.
Hermia has fallen for Lysander and Helena is in love with Demetrius – but Hermia has been promised to Demetrius. When the Duke of Athens attempts to enforce the marriage against Hermia’s will, the lovers flee into the woods and land in the middle of a dispute between Titania and Oberon, the King and Queen of the Fairies. The lovers are not the only unsuspecting humans to get caught up in the magical mayhem; a group of amateur actors have chosen the seclusion of the forest to rehearse a play. Amongst feuding fairies, bumbling players and pining lovers, flies the mischievous fairy, Puck, armed with a love potion that will make anyone fall for the first person they set eyes upon – no matter how unsuitable.
Season opens on Saturday, May 7, and runs ’til Sunday, May 22. Bookings can be made through BOCS.

MUSIC

Hugh Cornwell, May 8
The Charles Hotel; bookings through BOCS.

Soweto Gospel Choir, May 14
Perth Concert Hall; bookings through BOCS.