Welcome to Canberra in Winter

Winter in Canberra is a spectacular affair - the air is bracingly cold but the skies are often blue. It's perfect weather to trot out your most fabulous wool coat, and explore the nation's capital and region, discovering the warm welcome of their people.

From 11 July-12 October, winter wanderers can take advantage of Vivid, the National Photography Festival. The exciting program of festival events, that celebrates photography in all its forms through 100 exhibitions at 50 venues, includes the projection of photographic images onto the exteriors of buildings, folio nights with Australia's photographers, award ceremonies, a trade show, master classes, seminars, talks and tours.

Last year a new event was introduced to the capital's cultural landscape - Canberra Living Artists Week (CLAW) - a huge creative send-off to the winter doldrums, initiated by Canberra Arts Marketing (CAM). At the heart of CLAW is the celebration of creative individuals and communities, living and working in the ACT and region, connecting the public to artists and artworks in unconventional and engaging ways. CLAW, which taps into one of Australia's most vibrant arts communities, acknowledges the human side of the arts by focusing on those who make the visual arts, craft, design, music, performing arts, dance, film and literature happen here and now.

Many of CAM's arts and cultural consortium members, enthusiastic artists and supporters came together to produce 44 fantastic events - ranging from gallery crawls, real time art challenges Iron Chef style - to champagne and temporary tattoo salons and intimate lunches with artists in galleries.

CLAW, held from 22-31 August, brings new and exciting collaborations of literary art, performing and visual art, art where you least expect it and opportunities for visitors and locals alike to get involved in the creation of new works - or simply to enjoy an arts experience.

Please visit artsaroundcanberra.com.au, where Canberra Arts Marketing makes it easy for you to get to know and keep in touch with the arts around Canberra.

Visit us at www.thisweekincanberra.com

Canberra - A Brief History

Canberra is a fairly young city and the majority of its history is tied to politics of Australia. Canberra was decided as the federal capital in the late 1880s for a very simple reason - that it was located roughly halfway between the two major cities of Melbourne and Sydney. Before this time there was very little in the Canberra region apart from a farming community. For thousands of years before white settlement, Aboriginal people lived in the region and Canberra received its name because the word means "meeting place' in the local Aboriginal language.

An international competition was held in 1911 order to find plans that would be suitable for a federal capital city. Many different plans were submitted, and a young American architect named Walter Burley-Griffin won the contest. He suggested Canberra be built with town centres in the hills and then linked by small arteries in a circular pattern and divided by a lake.

The Parliament was not built immediately when Canberra was established and its plans approved. Instead, a temporary Parliament was constructed in 1927 while plans for the current building were confirmed after a national competition in 1980. In 1988, the building was opened by Queen Elizabeth II to world acclaim. Over the years, Canberra has grown to be a diplomatic, educational, service and political hub of the nation.

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