Do you need more meaning in your life? Amnesty International has started a regular program of worthy films that could well add that longed-for meaning, at the Food Co-op, starting with a hard-hitting documentary on Tuesday night. The program begins with I Am a Girl, the story of six girls from Cameroon, Afghanistan, America, Papua New Guinea, Cambodia and Australia. It tells the story of what it is like to be a girl in 2012. Not surprisingly, the stories are sobering. I Am a Girl screens on Tuesday at 7.30pm at the Food Co-op, 3 Kingsley St, Canberra City. Free. (Snacks and drinks provided.)

Photojournalist Stephen Dupont will give a floor talk on Wednesday on his more than 15 visits to Afghanistan, as part of his show, Afghanistan: The War on Terror, showing at the University of New South Wales campus at the Australian Defence Force Academy. ''Between 1993 and 2009, Stephen travelled to the landlocked, conflict-ridden country, documenting the rise and fall of regimes and gaining unparalleled access to political leaders,'' say the organisers. ''Through images, Dupont exhibits humanity's ability to seek the last option of government - war - as a solution to political differences.'' The talk will be at 5.30pm in the academy library.

The last masterclass lecture on Gold and the Incas: Lost Worlds of Peru is on this week. Professor Richard L. Burger, the Charles J. MacCurdy Professor of Anthropology at Yale University, will talk about gold and the origin of Peruvian civilisation. The-one hour lecture, on Wednesday, will be followed by an exhibition viewing from 7pm to 8pm. Single sessions $35, concessions $30, members $25, memberships available for purchase at the door. Bookings: ticketek.com.au/gold or 1300 795 012.

Regional artist Hamish Ta-me has an installation exhibition opening this week at East Hotel, made up of large-format portraits and video. ''The project is an ongoing series looking at public power, female strength and the ability of communities to engage with evil in their midst,'' he says. The series has evolved from work Ta-me was pasting illegally under bridges and in alleyways, as part of a guerrilla Artists Run Initiative that he founded in 2005. Ta-me is also a finalist in this year's National Photographic Portrait Prize, for the third time, with an image that is part of the Sentinels Project, showing at East Hotel, 69 Canberra Avenue, Kingston, until May 28. The National Photographic Portrait Prize is on at the National Portrait Gallery until June 9.

Two textile artists have a show opening this week at the Q Exhibition Space in Queanbeyan, all about gardens. Beth Miller and Wilma Cawley both began as traditional quiltmakers, and both are inspired by gardens. From foliage to gates and fences, rows of trees to seed pods and birds, these artists use their own photographic images to translate their designs on to cloth. Join them at the Q Exhibition Space, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, via Lowe Street in Queanbeyan. In the Garden opens on Tuesday and runs until April 12.

Two artists have a meeting of minds this week at Form Studio and Gallery in Queanbeyan. Ceramic artist Ros Auld, from Borenore in the Central Tablelands, shows ''large ceramic vessels based on observations of landscape, expressing both the strength and fragility of nature using materials from the earth''. Meanwhile, French artist Frank Thirion has created landscape paintings, exploring ''tactile patterns that evoke the patina of geological surfaces. Layers of paint are manipulated to create a faux-rock platform, evocative of nature's etched passage of time''. Common Ground, by Ros Auld and Frank Thirion, opens at Form Studio and Gallery, 1/30 Aurora Avenue, Queanbeyan, on Thursday and runs until April 14.

How about a walk on the side of the ones who decide? The Canberra Area Theatre (CAT) Awards are now in their 20th year and are looking for new regional and Canberra-based theatre and performing-arts practitioners to join the judging panel. There is still time to put in a submission. Judges are selected on the basis of their availability, expertise, knowledge and commitment to the CAT Awards policy and philosophy, and must:

• Possess relevant specialist or strong generalist expertise and experience in theatre and the performing arts;

• Be available to attend performances in Canberra and the region as required;

• Be committed to and be able to demonstrate that they adhere to the CAT judges' code of ethics;

• Attend monthly judges' meetings in person or via teleconference;

• Participate in CAT Awards official events as required;

• Act as an individual, not as a representative of any company that the judge is associated with.

If you think you have got what it takes to join the team of passionate judges, email cfw@ozemail.com.au or phone 0418 249 658. Submissions close on Monday.

It is still summer in Belconnen and the Belconnen Artists' Network is exhibiting works from its annual summer challenge this month. It is something it does every year, but with a different theme. This year, it is all about the eye of the beholder. ''For most people, their first impression on looking at a cactus is of an ugly, misshapen and prickly plant,'' says artist Diana Davidson. ''However time spent with these unusual plants will uncover the rare loveliness of the flower, which only blooms at night, and may occur only once every seven years.'' Come and see some more. Visit the show this week at Belconnen Community Centre, Swanson Court, Belconnen. The show runs until April 4.