Polifemy was formed when Joan Milner returned to town after a choral music summer school run by the Tallis Scholars in England, inspired to explore vocal music written and performed acapella by nuns in the 15th and 16th centuries. Milner brought together several other experienced women choral singers for this purpose, and the group continues to this day, now under the direction of original member and early music specialist Robyn Mellor.

Polifemy is still singing the compositions of the masters of the Renaissance such as Palestrina, Monteverdi, Guerrero and Victoria, and in recent years has branched out to include secular unaccompanied music with concerts focusing on the canzonettas of William Byrd and Thomas Morley. Polifemy has always enjoyed collaborating with other groups, such as Walking the Dog recorder ensemble and male vocal ensemble The Gentleman’s Agreement, and has most recently been called on to add its unique female plainchant sound to a program of Renaissance music performed by the Oriana Chorale (also under Mellor’s direction).

The anniversary concert will feature sacred music in praise of the Virgin Mary, the best of English and Italian love madrigals, favourite 20th century works and special commissions for the group.

Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest, June 9, 5pm. Tickets available at the door, $25, $5 children.

We’re looking forward to the National Gallery of Australia’s Winter Film Series curated by film writer Simon Weaving.

With a focus on art and fashion, it will be a fascinating insight into some fascinating lives.

Kicking the series off is Westwood: Punk, icon, activist, the enthralling story of the gloriously eccentric Vivienne Westwood, once the enfant terrible of punk culture and now a remarkable global icon who has been redefining British fashion for 40 years. Dame Vivienne never holds back on her opinions about the past, the people she’s shared it with, and how she has to fight to maintain her principles.

Other films feature artists Richard Hambleton, Maurizio Cattelan and Julian Schnabel and there’s a documentary, The Gift, which explores the parallels between artists’ works and the gift economy.

Wednesdays June 13 to July 11, 6.30pm. James O Fairfax Theatre, NGA. Series (five films) $70, $60 concession, $50 NGA members. Single session: $16, $14 concession, $12 NGA members. Bookings at nga.gov.au

Kath Inglis is a jeweller who has honed her craft through decades of practice working with one material – PVC. She expertly dyes, carves and/or fuses this seemingly ordinary sheet plastic to create jewellery pieces with a particular luminosity.

“Simple hand-worked processes such as colouring, cutting, carving and more recently, heat fusing layers, elevates this material into the precious,” she says.

“There is an internal and external element to the surface of PVC and the the light reacts to these layers.”

In In Light Of, Inglis has drawn from the natural world for her crystal-like images cut into the PVC. Through carving and laminating the transparent layers she can literally bend the light, allowing her to control the illusion of depth and the complexity of pattern.

At Bilk Gallery, Manuka, until July 6, with a floor talk from Inglis at 1pm, Saturday, June 16.

Three new exhibitions highlighting the diverse talents of ACT artists will open at Tuggeranong Arts Centre this week.

The My Human Condition Youth Art Award brings together self-portraits by more than 40 local high school and college students. The prize was developed in response to the exhibition Another Day in Paradise.

The work of local artists Rachel Corsini and Alfredo Lango will also be on display throughout June in their collaborative exhibition Entropy: Interrupted, reflected. The exhibition considers the entropic production of waste in a fast-paced consumerist society.

Meanwhile, global women’s and refugee rights issues will be brought to the fore when artist Hangama Obaidullah presents a special women’s forum, Dark Histories, Bright Futures, on June 21, alongside her exhibition of paintings, photography and hand-embroidered fabric, Street Children of Kabul and other works.

Obaidullah came to Australia from Afghanistan as a refugee in August 2003. Since then she has studied English, completed high school in Sydney, and moved to Canberra in 2010 where she is currently studying for a Bachelor of Writing at University of Canberra. She has also developed her arts practice in painting, drawing, photography and writing.

Street Children of Kabul and other works, Entropy: Interrupted, reflected, and the My Human Condition Youth Art Award are all running at the Tuggeranong Arts Centre until June 30.