Highlights this week:
Fancy a laugh? The Anti-Social Tap Christmas Charity Comedy Show will be held on Saturday at Stock Xchange, 91 St Andrew St, from 8pm.
The line-up includes Harley McCabe, Kathryn Hurst, Blair Granville, Sam Smith, Velcro Poodle, Mark Murray and Trubie Dylan Smith.
Tickets $5 at the door, proceeds to the Methodist Mission.
Present tension? Finish your Christmas shopping with a visit to the Otago Art Society's "Pick'n'Mix" exhibition at the Dunedin Railway Station.
Choose from affordable paintings, prints, pottery, jewellery and sculpture.
Open daily 10am to 4pm until December 23.
Its extended run is over on Saturday.
• Gigs
Alibi, the Octagon.
Fridays, from 10.30pm: Hemi and Bede.
Chicks Hotel, Port Chalmers.
Tonight, 9pm: The Black Watch (USA), Surf Friends and The Chills. 9pm.
Tomorrow: Crude & the Aesthetics, from 9pm.
Saturday: Alizarin Lizard. 9pm.
Sunday Emmanuel Gomez Spurr & The New Self, free, 4pm
Circadian Rhythm Cafe, 72 St Andrew St.
Fridays, 5.30pm: Philtre Jazz Trio.
Dunedin Musicians Club, 12 Manse St.
Thursdays, 5pm: open mike night.
Gallery on Blueskin, 1 Harvey St, Waitati.
Monday, 6pm: Jazz in the Courtyard.
Isis Lounge, 68 Princes St.
Every Wednesday, 8pm: I Jazz.
Every Thursday: Oxo Cubans jam night, from 8pm.
Every Friday, 8pm: Oxo Cubans, party night.
Pequeno, the Savoy.
Thursdays: Mojaz, lounge music from 8pm.
Ra Cafe and Bar, 21 the Octagon.
Tonight, 9pm: Sea Beast.
Friday, 8pm: Alias; 11pm: DJ Dalboy.
Saturday, 11pm: DJ D Fyance.
Sunday, 2pm: Brunch music with Jimmy Higgs.
Wednesdays: B-Shed, from 7pm.
Robbie Burns Pub, 374 George St.
Thursdays: Calder Prescott Jazz Quartet, 8.30pm.
Rosie's Bar, Victoria Hotel.
Thursdays, 9pm: open mike night.
Gear provided.
Sammy's, 65 Crawford St.
Friday, 9pm: Blistering Tongues, OPC, Bazooka and Freddy Fudd Pucker.
Swell, St Clair Esplanade.
Friday, 6pm: Calder Prescott.
Saturday, 3pm: Trevor Coleman and Nick Cornish; 6pm: Bobby Vinson Combo.
Sunday, 3pm: Greg Hoskins.
Tonic, 138 Princes St.
Saturday, 9pm: Graeme Tongue with special guests.
Terrace Bar, the Octagon.
Saturday: Livewire.
Classic rock covers from 10pm.
• Family fun
Blueskin Bay Library.
Preschool story time, every Friday, 10.30am.
Excludes school holidays. Free.
Dunedin Public Art Gallery, the Octagon.
Saturday and Sunday, 10.30am-4.30pm: Christmas Follies.
Using the gallery's materials, make your own Christmas decorations.
Knox Church, 449 George St.
Friday, 1.30-2.30pm: preschool music for children 0-5 and carers.
Mosgiel Library, Hartstonge Ave, Mosgiel.
Christmas preschool story time featuring Santa, Tuesday, 11am.
Otago Museum, 419 Great King St.
Explorer backpacks for 7- to 12-year-olds (free).
Guided tours daily at 11.30am and 3.30pm.
Meet at the information desk.
Weekends, 10.30am and 2pm, atrium level 1: children's creative activities.
Weekends during December, noon and 3.30pm, atrium level 1: Interactive Trolley - The Earth's Riches.
Daily during school holidays, 2.30pm, search centre: Origami: The Art of Folding Paper.
Saturday-Thursday, 10am-4pm, animal attic: Join Santa for Victorian Christmas celebrations and activities.
Weekend, 1pm-3pm: Santa's Sweet Shop: Create Chocolate Candy Spoons.
Otago Settlers Museum, 31 Queens Gardens.
Saturday to Thursday, 10am-noon, 1pm-4pm: Join Santa and friends in Pixie Town , celebrating Christmas past and present. Free.
Visitor Information Centre, Octagon.
Daily, 11am: Walk Dunedin, inner-city walking tours.
Meet at the visitor centre.
• Music and performance
Dunedin Public Art Gallery, the Octagon.
Saturday, 1.30pm: The Melrose Singers. .
Otago Museum, 419 Great King St.
Lunchtime music every Friday and Saturday, noon.
Friday: Sandra Crawshaw and Charlotte Francis.
Saturday: George Arthur.
Sunday, 1.30pm, Atrium Level 1: Southern Children's Choir.
Stock Xchange, 91 St Andrew St.
Saturday, 8pm: Stand-up comedy featuring Harley McCabe, Kathryn Hurst, Blair Granville, Sam Smith, Velcro Poodle, Mark Murray and Trubie Dylan Smith.
• Plays
Fortune Theatre, Stuart St.
Until December 19: Roger Hall's Four Flat Whites in Italy.
• Talks and films
Dunedin Public Art Gallery, the Octagon.
Sunday, 3pm, Making Masterpieces film series: The Conquest of Light and Old Tricks and New Pigments.
•Otago Museum, 419 Great King St.
Free daily talks, 2pm.
December daily talks: Mondays: "The Wahine Disaster".
Tuesdays: "Kakariki".
Wednesdays: "Northern Royal Albatross".
Thursdays: "Islamic ceramics".
Fridays: "South Island extinct birds".
Saturdays: "Fabulous flax".
Sundays: "Cave invertebrates".
Special exhibition gallery free talk daily at 4.30pm: "Charles Darwin: Evolutionary Thinking".
• Exhibitions
Aigantighe Art Gallery, 49 Wai-iti Rd, Timaru.
Until February 24: "Geo-morph", by Andrew Craig.
Until February 28: " Steal" by Sam Mahon.
Archives New Zealand, 556 George St, Dunedin.
Until January 22, 2010, "Built to Last: Five Otago Engineering Feats", archives relating to engineering sites and structures which have been milestones in New Zealand's engineering history. 9.30am-5pm.
Art Upstairs, corner Ardmore and Helwick Sts, Wanaka.
Paintings by Bill Burke, John Thom, Nigel Wilson, Graham Brinsley, and images on zincalume by Susan Mason.
The Artist's Room, 2 Dowling St.
Christmas Group Show.
Bannockburn Cafe and Store.
Until December 31: works by Simon Morrison-Deaker.
Bellamy's Gallery Macandrew Bay.
Until December 25: "Elderflower Champagne and Starling Soup".
Works by Pauline Bellamy and Jodie Austin.
Open Wednesday-Sunday, noon-5pm.
Blue Oyster Gallery, basement, Moray Chambers, 30 Moray Pl.
Until December 24: Elise O'Neill and Aroha Novak "Expensive Rubbish" and Elspeth Fougere "Here, There and Everywhere (We are a Community of Cells)".
Open Tuesday-Friday 11am-5pm, Saturday noon-3pm.
Brett McDowell Gallery, 5 Dowling St.
"Six spiromorphs", by Barry Brickell.
Central Stories Museum and Art Gallery, 21 Centennial Ave, Alexandra.
Open 10am-4pm.
Until January 16: "People at Work and Play" photographic competition on display.
From Saturday until January 24: Photographs by Olwynne Oliver and Jewellery by Sonia Keogh.
De Beer Gallery, Special Collections, 1st floor, Central University Library.
Until January 29: "Heresy, Sedition, Obscenity: The Book Challenged".
Deluxe Gallery, 26 George St, Port Chalmers.
Until December 30: "Fun is an Art", by Octavia Mogil.
Dunedin City Library, 230 Moray Pl, in the Reed Gallery, Third floor.
Until February 8: "Rogues Gallery: the Villains of Charles Dickens". Meet the unsavoury characters that are part of the Dickensian charm. Free.
Dunedin Public Art Gallery, the Octagon.
"Beloved: Works from the Dunedin Public Art Gallery".
Until February 28: Cho Duck Hyun, "Dark Water: the Antipodes Project".
An installation produced by South Korean artist Cho Duck Hyun in Auckland this year, this work continues this artist's interest in social and cultural history.
Ongoing: "Poseur".
Portraits from the gallery's collection.
Until February: Bill Culbert and Ralph Hotere: "P. R. O. P".
Until February: "Tom Kreisler" - works spanning a 30-year period.
Until January: David Clegg: "Rerecordings 2006-2009."
Showcases recordings the artist made in Dunedin alongside previous recordings made in Chile in 2006.
Until January: "Miguel Angel Rios".
Works by New York and Mexico City-based artist Miguel Angel Rios.
Until March 2010: Ronnie van Hout "Rear Window".
Eastern Southland Gallery, Gore.
Until January 24: Russell Beck, "Forces of Land".
A survey exhibition spanning more than 40 years of sculpture and carving.
Forrester Gallery, Thames St, Oamaru.
Until January 14: "Off The Page", original illustrations from New Zealand books.
Gallery at Glenfalloch, Glenfalloch Gardens.
Contemporary works by six peninsula artists.
Gallery De Novo, 101 Stuart St.
Until December 24: "Dreaming of a Round Christmas", more than 80 original circular works.
Gallery on Blueskin, 1 Harvey St, Waitati.
Until December 20: "Islands and Islets", works by Maria Mackay.
The Gateway Gallery, 27 Ross Pl, Lawrence.
Arty Collection: group show.
Open Thursday-Monday.
Harris Smith Art, 86-88 Bond St.
Paintings by Jeffrey Harris, sculptures by Nicole Page-Smith.
Open Monday-Saturday, 1pm-2pm, or by appointment.
Hocken Gallery, cnr Anzac Ave and Parry St.
Until February 20: "On Vacation: A History of Holidaying in Southern New Zealand".
Hullabaloo Art Space, Melmore Tce, Old Cromwell historic precinct.
Until December 26: "Birds of a Feather", by Luke Anthony.
Inge Doesburg Studio and Gallery, 6 Castle St.
Until December 24: "Christmas show".
Works by selected artists.
Jetty St Studio Art Gallery, at 10 Jetty St.
"A Blot on the Landscape", paintings by Elizabeth Manson.
Lakes District Museum, Arrowtown.
From Friday until February 28: "Showing Favourites". Historical and contemporary art from local private collections.
Milford Galleries, Dunedin, 18 Dowling St.
December 19-January 27: Summer Show: including artists JS Parker, Garry Currin and Nigel Brown.
Glass works by Ann Robinson and ceramic works by Christine Thacker.
Milford Galleries, Queenstown.
December 19-February 17: "Summer Show": paintings, ceramics and glass works, and "Works on Paper" : Dick Frizzell, Penny Stotter, Julie Ross.
Nadene Milne Gallery, 16 Buckingham St, Arrowtown.
Until December 30: "Heather Straka".
North Otago Museum, 60 Thames St, Oamaru.
Until May 2010: "Sweat and Starch": textiles from the museum's collections. Otago Art Society, in the OAS gallery at Dunedin Railway Station, 1st floor, open daily.
From Saturday: "Pick 'n' Mix", Christmas exhibition.
Otago Museum, 419 Great King St.
Until January 24: "Otago Wildlife Photography Exhibition", 1877 Gallery, Level 1.
Until May 23: "Charles Darwin: Evolutionary Thinking", Nature Galleries, level 3, free.
Until April 19: "Charles Brasch: A great good man", People of the World Gallery, Level 2.
Until May 2010: "Dinosaur Eggs and Babies", Special Exhibitions Gallery, Level 1.
Otago Settlers Museum, 31 Queens Gardens.
Ongoing: "Across the Ocean Waves", Otago immigration in the age of sail.
Until June: "Willkommen to Dunedin: A History of German-speaking People in Otago".
Until February 28: "Square and Compasses: Freemasonry in New Zealand" shares the history and traditions of Freemasonry.
Until February 28: "Built to Last: Engineering in Otago".
Owaka Museum, 10 Campbell St, Owaka.
"Catlins Bound": watercolours by Fergus Sutherland.
Renaissance Gallery and Sculpture Garden, corner Junction Rd and Matai St, Ravensbourne.
Until February 24: "Summer Show".
A group show of work by 20 artists.
Open: Friday, Saturday, Sundays noon-5pm.
Rocda Gallery, 73 Princes St.
Until December 19: "Landmarks", abstract works by Rob Piggott.
South Seas Gallery, 1088 Brighton Rd, Brighton.
Until February 27: "New Work", recent paintings by Ollie Crooks.
Stuart St Potters Co-operative, 14 Lower Stuart St.
Today: Christmas Party for co-op members.
Until December 20: Louise Thompson Parker and Judy Ringland Stuart.
Taieri Gallery, 123 Gordon Rd, Mosgiel.
Until February: works by photographic artist Murray Crawford.
Temple Gallery, 29 Moray Pl, Dunedin.
"Every painting is a way of saying goodbye", works by women artists including Michaela Cox, Lynda Cullen, Sarah Dolby, Mary McFarlane, Mirana Parkes, Seraphine Pick, and Heather Straka.
Tony Williams Gallery, 30 Moray Pl.
Until December 24: Christmas Exhibition of New Work.
Toi O Tahuna Fine Art Gallery, Church Lane, Queenstown.
Until December 24: Group show of works by David Teata, Jason Hicks, Jenufa Waiti, Sam Foley and Sofia Minson.
