13 - 15 November 2026 | Ainslie Arts Centre

The Undercurrent Design Market brings together over 50 accomplished makers from across Australia, showcasing contemporary work in jewellery, glass, ceramics, textiles and diverse creative mediums.  

23 October – 15 November 2026 | M16 Artspace

Bespoke Utopia presents Canberra artists whose practices embrace the principles of slow design that is grounded in care, material knowledge and long-term thinking. Linking global conversations around sustainable design with Canberra’s rich craft history, the exhibition invites audiences to consider how design shapes everyday life and how thoughtful creative practices can challenge fast, disposable production models.  

9 – 15 November 2026 | Miko Designs

Break // Make: UC x Miko is a multidisciplinary design collaboration between University of Canberra students and Miko Designs. Exploring ‘Dissent’, students challenge convention, blend tradition with technology and push the boundaries of craft, architecture and design to envision our sustainable and creative futures.  

14 November 2026 | National Carillon

The Canberra Kinetic Sculpture Race is a one-day spectacle of human-powered, amphibious art machines. Teams create imaginative sculptures that travel across land, sand, and water in a whimsical celebration of creativity and dissent. Audiences can explore, watch, and cheer on these inventive, handmade moving artworks. 

14 November 2026 | Australian War Memorial

Step inside the Australian War Memorial's New Entrance, where a striking Oculus, inspired by the Hall of Memory's dome, draws natural light into a space of quiet solemnity and contemporary beauty. Featuring locally sourced sandstone, bronze detailing and intuitive wayfinding, this is a seamless and deeply considered integration of history and modernity. 

14 November 2026 | National Film and Sound Archive of Australia

Join us in the courtyard of the National Film and Sound Archive to close the 2026 Craft + Design Canberra Festival with an evening of dance, design and celebration under the Canberra sky. 

5 – 25 November 2026  | Canberra Glassworks

Delightly revives endangered scientific glassblowing skills, transforming salvaged laboratory glass into plasma-illuminated vessels. Harriet Schwarzrock creates objects whose luminous behaviour shifts with viewer proximity, taking science out of the museum. Darkened, subtly interactive installations offer multi-sensory wonder, merging curiosity with playful public engagement in glass and light. 

1 – 28 November 2026 | Designcraft

Design Deviation celebrates the intentional mistake, showcasing furniture by Designcraft employees who have deliberately broken the rules of 'best practice' to discover new aesthetics in unusual materials and unconventional assembly. 

7 – 8 + 14 – 15 November 2026 | National Film and Sound Archive

Digital Dissent is an interactive showcase of innovative microgames exploring dissent, presented by Canberra Game Developers Association (CanDev) and hosted by the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA). Play the games, then join Digital Dissent in Discussion to hear local designers reflect on how Canberra’s game design community embraces dissent.  

14 November 2026 | ANU School of Medicine and Psychology

How do we view, hear and learn from the human corpse? Artists and anatomists from the Australian National University School of Medicine come together to explore how art and narrative can protect and preserve the humanity of the human body.  

6 – 22 November 2026 | Queanbeyan Hive

A powerful act of dissent against the marginalisation of older voices, Elder Art is an exhibition of artworks by older members of the community. Through art and artist talks, the exhibition amplifies these voices, celebrating the richness that a long life and diverse experiences of history can bring to our shared community. 

5 November – 12 December 2026  | Craft + Design Canberra

EMERGENCY: Signal, Repair, Adapt brings together artists and designers working across ceramics, glass, textiles and media to examine what it means to make objects in a time of disruption. A major exhibition that affirms the power of creative practice to imagine alternatives where established systems have failed. 

7 + 14 November 2026 | Lakeside + City

In a spirited act of dissent against the boundaries of public space, Localjinni presents two projected night walks through Canberra’s Civic Centre. Led by local artists these saunters reclaim the right to roam and creatively reimagine the city after dark.  

5 November – 12 December 2026  | Craft + Design Canberra

The National Robert Foster Metal Prize exhibition celebrates 15 finalists from across Australia who are questioning, reinterpreting and evolving the possibilities of metal as a contemporary practice. 

5 November – 6 December 2026 | Civic Square  

NEST | Design for the Displaced Future is a major public art commission for the 2026 Craft + Design Canberra Festival, responding to the theme of Dissent. Located in Civic Square, the temporary public art installation brings together sculptural works exploring the universal instinct to nest and belong in a changing world. 

12, 13 + 14 November 2026 | City

Nightwalks with Teenagers is created with local youth, who plan, design and lead public walks through Canberra at night, exploring the neighbourhood with members of the community. It is focused on the power of walking together, bringing together teens and adults to have a unique social experience in shared spaces. 

14 November 2026 | Ainslie Arts Centre

Discover the infinite possibilities of simple printmaking in this playful workshop. Using recycled materials and reclaimed textiles, you will create your own patterned cloth to take home, a small and wearable act of dissent. 

7 November 2026 –  30 January 2027 | Canberra Contemporary

In the spirit of Dissent, Canberra Contemporary presents POWER – The Future is Here by Denis Golding, curated by Kyra Kum-Sing, alongside Tal Fitzpatrick's solo exhibition Quietly Seething: Fate, Fury and Transmutation. Together, these exhibitions interrogate power, resistance and transformation through bold and uncompromising contemporary practice. 

6 – 18 November 2026 | Q Gallery

Want to ‘give the finger’ to actions (or inaction) that cause you distress? Sick of responding to issues and concerns with anger or sadness? ‘Radical Joy’ can help you find humour and hope to communicate your concerns.  

7 November 2026 | Canberra Contemporary

Join Canberra Contemporary for a panel discussion on the theme of this year’s Craft + Design Canberra Festival DISSENT featuring exhibiting feminist artist and craftivist Dr Tal Fitzpatrick, MoAD curator Stephanie Pfennigwerth and moderated by artist Raquel Ormella.