Welcome to our feature – Arts Scene Around Freo – compiled by our Arts Editor, Gayle O’Leary. Here we will bring to your attention community Arts events happening around Freo – visual arts, live performances, music gigs of various sorts, you name it. Each week we will post Arts Scene on our homepage as well as in The Weekly Edition. If you’d like to have your event included, let Gayle know!
So, what’s happening this week?
Between Suns
Friday 7 August – 20 September
Open: Wed 1pm-7pm Thu-Sun: 11am – 5pm
Vessel Contemporary is proud to announce ‘Between Suns’, a major survey exhibition of work by Khaled Sabsabi, opening 7 August 2026 at the Naval Store in Fremantle.
Curated by Mikala Tai, the exhibition brings together works spanning 1998 to 2026, including new and previously unexhibited works, transforming Vessel into an immersive, multi-sensory experience.
Working across painting, video, sound, installation and performance, Khaled approaches art as a communicative and ethical space: a shared language through which complex ideas of belonging, faith, power and collectively can be encountered. His work frequently draws on mysticism, ritual and everyday gestures, unfolding across cycles rather than fixed narratives, and inviting audiences into moments of reflection, resonance and exchange.
Sabsabi describes the exhibition as ‘an opportunity to further personal artistic and creative expressions of the undefined routines and the ability to distill space, time and symbolism into the narrative of life.’
‘Between Suns’ runs concurrently with Sabsabi’s representation of Australia at the 2026 Venice Biennale, offering Western Australian audiences a rare opportunity to engage deeply with an internationally acclaimed artist’s practice on a local scale.
Naval Store, 141 Queen Victoria Street, Fremantle
https://vesselcontemporary.org/
Across the Way
Friday 28 August – 13 September 10am – 4pm
A new exhibition, ACROSS THE WAY, which opened on 28 August at Earlywork, in South Fremantle brings together a diverse range of storytelling, artistic styles and perspectives from five Western Australian remote Aboriginal-owned art centres.
From the Kimberley to the Pilbara, the Western Desert to the Ngaanyatjarra Lands, and from the foothills of the Blackstone Ranges to the tri-border region of WA, NT and SA, the exhibition reflects the incredible range of contemporary First Nations art emerging from these communities. They include Ninuku Arts, situated just 10 kilometres across the WA border in the Pitjantjatjara Lands of South Australia.
Curator Anna Kanaris, whose gallery, Artitja Fine Art, celebrates its 22nd year in 2026, has been exhibiting First Nations art throughout that time. She says the work reveals the richness and diversity of a contemporary art movement that is constantly evolving.
“Several of the artists featured in the exhibition are also represented at this weekend’s prestigious Sydney Contemporary art fair, and are current finalists in major national art awards,” says Anna. “It’s a wonderful reflection of the calibre and quality of the exhibition.”
From established, internationally acclaimed and collected artists such as Bugai Whyoulter, born in 1939, “…who, as a teenager, recalls seeing ‘whitefellas’ for the first time as they drove cattle along the Canning Stock Route through Martu Country…”, to 29-year-old emerging artist Cassaria Hogan, whose paintings reflect her experiences of travelling on bush trips, ACROSS THE WAY encompasses such a diverse range of styles, stories and perspectives that its appeal is wide.
“Having seen several generations of artists since the late 1990s developing the art form and sharing their ancient and ancestral stories through visual art, I never tire of or cease to be amazed by the extraordinary generosity of spirit of these artists. Through their art, they willingly educate us about their ancient cultural practices in such an accessible and powerful way.”
Artitja Fine Art Gallery is a signatory to the Indigenous Art Code, committed to working to ethical standards.
EARLYWORK 330 South Terrace, South Fremantle
https://artitja.com.au/latest-exhibition/
Strangelands – Welcome to the Living Room
Friday 28 August – 13 September
Welcome Dancers one & all!
From August 26th, the RDF team and some of our incredibly talented friends are taking a leap into the unknown. We’re opening a pop up venue for 3 weeks across August & September, and creating a community space in the heart of Fremantle — The Living Room.
Before we fling open the doors and invite the masses, we’re throwing a little housewarming for our friends, family and crew. Come down, check out the space, and see what we’ve been building.
We’re taking the chance to showcase a few AWESOME up and coming artists — some we want to see play, some we want YOU to see play, and some with raw talent that just needs a little room to grow before the big stage.
Up & comers will be announced one by one, giving each of them their moment to shine.
We’re also sharing a documentary from last year’s festival for the very first time! It’s a tear jerker — if you’ve got family & friends who struggle to understand why music festivals mean so much to you, this will help them get it.
…and maybe we just want to see all your lovely faces!
Entertainment from 7pm — rock up anytime after work to hang.
Bars open until midnight.
Music until we’re all knackered out.
Limited to 150 capacity.
Tickets only $10+bf via Gather
Big love,
RDF Crew xx
19/36 South Terrace Piazza Fremantle
https://gather.rsvp/strangelands
Something in the Sky
Friday 4 – 20 September 6pm ~
Internationally acclaimed WA artist Jon Tarry looks to the sky in a major exhibition of sculpture, and performance in the iconic PS Art Space.
Walyalup/Fremantle, WA — Jon Tarry is one of Australia’s most prolific and internationally recognised artists. Working across the spheres of socially engaged art that combines traditional modes of making with complex new forms. His work is an examination of mobility in the modern world and he’s bringing it home to Fremantle before touring internationally.
Tarry is renowned for major exhibitions, commissioned art and architectural innovations across Australia, the USA, the Middle East and Europe with more than 60 works in the public realm to date. He recently completed major land artwork in the Yarra Ranges Victoria, he is known for his signature works in WA; Convergence at Perth Stadium, Waterlines wrapping around Yagan Square; and internationally for his commissions in the Chrysler building NY, and as a Venice Biennale exhibitor.
Now with this showing he is pushing his practice into new uncertain terrain: where sculpture is at the intersection of immersive live performance. This major new solo exhibition of 35 new works, Something in the Sky, opens at PS Art Space on 4 September, bringing sculptural installation, light works and sonic artworks together into a single, participatory experience and setting the direction for a new body of experimental and performative work that follows through to his international tour in 2027, in Amsterdam, Paris and Japan.
The show brings together diverse expressions around one theme of the uncanny, something in the sky, is it a cloud, a bird a drone or something still to be discovered? Poetry and pragmatics merge and shapeshift in forms that integrate traditional mediums and experimental installation.
Across the 35 new works, Tarry moves between scale and medium. Bronze sculpture ranges from large and small scale abstractions of airport runways to planar works that carry a fragment of sky from two dimensions into three. A bronze wing curled like a quill mid-scribe, a lunar module beneath a full-size parachute, and figures walking through cloud. These sit alongside photographic and digital media works, oil paintings, a ten-metre drawing accompanied by sound, and optical works including a telescope and distorting lenses to unsettle the viewers perspective. Graphite wall drawings, film and sound works shot at an aircraft boneyard in Arizona, lightning over Broome, and a park in Copenhagen, plus text-based works, complete this expansive exhibition experience.
The exhibition will be officially opened by City of Fremantle Mayor Ben Lawver, and Jane Wetherall, Director of With Architecture studio. It runs 4–20 September at PS Art Space, Walyalup/Fremantle. Opening night 4 Sept 6pm.
On 12 September, the show turns collaborative with a live performance of Baggage Handler, the ongoing sonic project between Tarry and internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter and guitarist Dom Mariani, recently returned from a sold out tour of Europe. Described as a shared, intuitive exploration of the space between departure and arrival, BaggageHandler sees the artists build an interweaving, sonically diverse world from sound, memory and transition.
Something in the Sky is Tarry’s clearest signal yet of where his practice is heading: beyond the object and into experience, sound and shared space. It is supported by With Architecture Studio, BC Consulting and WA Art Collective.
Jon Tarry | Sculpture, Light, Sound
PS Art Space, Walyalup/Fremantle, WA
https://events.humanitix.com/something-in-the-sky-bu-baggagehandler-jon-tarry-dom-mariani
City of Perth Brass Band – Our Favourites
Saturday 5 September 3pm – 5pm
The City of Perth Brass Band is coming to the beautiful Fremantle Town Hall for a single concert, playing some of our favourite pieces. With everything from Bohemian Rhapsody to Hymn of the Highlands it’s a truly eclectic program that’s got something for everyone.
Join us for a wonderful afternoon of music on Saturday, 5th September 2026.
Doors Open – 2:30pm
Concert Start – 3pm
At an incredibly affordable $20 per person for Adults, $15 for kids and kids aged 5 and under free, there’s simply no excuse to miss what promises to be a fantastic concert.
P.S. Not sure what to get Dad for Father’s Day? Why not turn it into a whole family weekend and bring Dad and the whole family to enjoy the incredible sounds of a Brass Band in full song as part of a day trip to Freo.
City of Fremantle Town Hall 151 High Street
https://events.humanitix.com/our-favourites
St Ali Italian Film Festival 2026
Thursday 24 September – 18 October
View the daily festival schedule here.
Returning to cinema screens this September is the largest celebration of Italian culture and film outside Italy, the 2026 ST. ALi Italian Film Festival presented by Palace. Featuring unmissable gems from some of Italy’s finest filmic talents, the festival screens at Luna Palace Cinemas from September 24 til October 18.
Among this year’s highlights is the bittersweet romantic drama THREE GOODBYES (Tre ciotole), based on the bestselling novel by Michela Murgia. When a couple (played by acclaimed actors Alba Rohrwacher and Elio Germano) split up after what seems like a trivial argument, their lives dramatically change in this emotional, ultimately life-affirming tale from director Isabel Coixet.
Directed by and starring Rocco Papaleo, THE GREATER GOOD (Il bene comune) is both a story of resilience and a heartfelt love letter to the southern Italian region of Basilicata. The story follows a hiking group whose search for an ancient pine tree in Pollino National Park becomes a transformative journey for each of them.
THE EYES OF OTHERS (Gli occhi degli altri) starring Jasmine Trinca and Filippo Timi, takes its inspiration from sensational real events amongst the elite in 1960s Italy. Set on the scenic Pontine Islands archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea, this provocative thriller is an intense tale of passion and crime amidst the wild beauty of an island owned by an immensely wealthy marquis.
The comedy TWIN STARS (Stella gemella) portrays a couple facing a relationship crisis who suddenly learn they are expecting twins. But not a regular set of twins, an extremely rare case in which each twin has a different father! Featuring stellar supporting performances from Margherita Buy and Laura Morante, this delightful new comedy from Luca Lucini is a story of family, modern love and self-discovery.
Intergenerational dramatic comedy CLASSMATES (Domani interrogo), based on Gaja Cenciarelli’s novel, stars Anna Ferzetti as a devoted English teacher assigned to the toughest class in a Rome high school. The film highlights the power of education, and the essential nature of respect and community in today’s classrooms.
Luna SX Fremantle
https://lunapalace.com.au/festivals/italian-ff
A Musical Evening with Emily Barker (supported by Tim Darby)
Friday 25 September 6pm – 9pm
Emily Barker is an award-winning Australian singer-songwriter. She found early success as the writer and performer of the theme to the hugely successful BBC crime drama Wallander starring Kenneth Branagh and has since gone on to forge an acclaimed catalogue of releases, leading The Guardian to say “Emily Barker has a gift for great melodies”.
After 20 years and a raft of releases and collaborations, Barker recently relocated home to WA and is now based in Fremantle.
Barker’s latest album, Fragile as Humans, was produced at storied English studio The Wool Hall by Luke Potashnick (Gabrielle Aplin, Jack Savoretti). It followed 2020’s A Dark Murmuration of Words, which Uncut called “…a kind of Australian equivalent of PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake” and which NPR’s Ann Powers acclaimed as “One of the most literate and probing folk albums of the year.”
Barker has released music and toured as a solo artist as well as with various bands and collaborations – most notably her long associations with Mary Chapin Carpenter and Frank Turner – and has written for TV and film, including composing the soundtrack for Jake Gavin’s lauded debut feature Hector starring Peter Mullan and Keith Allen.
Ecoburbia
https://events.humanitix.com/a-musical-evening-with-tim-darby-and-emily-barker
Totally Lit
Friday 2 – 16 October 2026
Totally Lit is back to take over Fremantle / Walyalup with two amazing weeks of live literature events. From the Port to the Prison, from the beach to the bars, in the streets and in the sky, Totally Lit is here to prove that stories belong everywhere.
With nearly 60 unique events to choose from, we have something to offer all ages. With many events available free-of-charge we also have something to offer all budgets.
If there’s any missed local shows and events that are about to open, do make sure to email Gayle so we can include your show, event, gig.
* Arts Scene Around Freo is compiled by our Arts Editor, Gayle O’Leary. If you’d like your community event listed email Gayle here.
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