5 November 2026 | Craft + Design Canberra

Join us to formally launch the 2026 Craft + Design Canberra Festival and celebrate the opening of 4 exciting exhibitions in the Craft + Design Canberra Gallery and Civic Square. 

7 + 8 November 2026 | Various Locations

Step inside the studios of Canberra’s makers and discover the creative practices of local craftspeople, designers, artists and arts organisations. Proudly supported by home.by.holly.  

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.  

6 + 7 November 2026 | Belconnen Arts Centre

Design and dance collide in a double-bill exploring the interplay between body, identity and cross-cultural exchange. ALTER is an Austral/Asian collaboration presented by dancers living with and without disability - offering a beautiful hybrid of ephemeral visual art and dance, illustrating the power of dissent through lived and imagined realities.  

6 November 2026 | National Film and Sound Archive of Australia

In line with the Craft + Design Canberra Festival theme of Dissent, this conversation asks whether we are measuring the things that matter most. As Canberra grows and changes, are we optimising for the metrics that are easier to count, or for the things that make our city a better place to live? This discussion will explore how the measures we choose influence the places we create, and whether it is time to broaden the way we define success. 

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.  

12 – 13 November 2026 | Canberra Museum and Gallery

BOLD Dissent is a two-day conference featuring leading dancers, designers and thinkers from across Australia and the world bringing a focus on dissent. Shaking up the way we create and present performing arts and the ways in which organisations and artists can create more accessible and inclusive environments for the future.

9 – 15 November 2026 | Across Canberra

Explore Canberra's award-winning Architecture with new landmark buildings  and ingenious sustainable residences through the Australian Institute of Architecture's Tour program. 

12 November 2026 | Canberra Airport

Join acclaimed contemporary jeweller Phoebe Porter and craft writer and curator Kevin Murray for an in conversation event at Canberra Airport, surrounded by Phoebe's new exhibition Raw and Refined. 

15 + 22 + 29 November 2026  | Such and Such

Such and Such presents Clubb Chess, a three day interactive exhibition celebrating contemporary artists and designers through the lens of a centuries old board game, encompassing the festival theme of ‘Dissent’. This exhibition brings together multiple industries across Canberra including architecture, furniture design, art, music and hospitality on the 15th, 22nd and 29th November 2026. 

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. 

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.  

7 November 2026 | National Film and Sound Archive

Digital Dissent in Discussion brings together local game developers to reflect on the evolution of Canberra's game design scene, dissecting the innovative microgames presented in Digital Dissent and exploring how Canberra's games industry continues to blaze a trail and break the mould.

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 November 2026  | Craft + Design Canberra

Join curator Stacy Jewell and exhibiting artists from EMERGENCY | Signal, Repair, Adapt for a shared conversation exploring resilience, transformation and repair. 

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. 

7 November 2026  | Craft + Design Canberra

Explore the 2026 Robert Foster Metal Prize with Craft + Design Canberra’s Exhibition Coordinator Stacy Jewell for an exhibition talk reflecting on the ideas, materials and making practices behind this year’s finalists.

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 November 2026 | Civic Square  

Explore NEST | Design for the Displaced Future, featuring site-responsive installations that reflect on gathering, belonging and place.