A look at what's happening around Otago.
Gigs
Alibi, the Octagon.
Fridays, from 10.30pm: Hemi and Bede.
Dunedin Musicians Club, 12 Manse St.
Thursdays, 5pm: open mike night.
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, 10pm: DJ Chris.
Saturday, 11pm: DJ D Fyance 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.
Family fun
Dunedin Public Art Gallery, the Octagon.
From December 26 until January 31: "A World with Chocolate" - Summer chocolate hunt.
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 and January, 11.30am: "Bring Back the Butterflies".
We've planted a beautiful outdoor butterfly garden full of host plants and nectar plants to attract butterflies.
Find out how to create your own butterfly garden and why it is so important to encourage wild butterflies to our gardens.
Meet at the information desk, free.
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.
Daily during school holidays: Tooth Sleuth question trail.
Track down all the teeth-related collections in the museum.
Solve the fossilised mystery and collect your prize.
Collect a trail from the Search Centre desk, free.
Today, 10am: A Victorian Christmas in The Animal Attic.
Until January 12: Sketch a Sauropod Competition.
Even the largest dinosaurs were babies once.
What would a baby sauropod look like? Grab a competition entry form today and give us your best sketch to be in to win prizes.
Collect an entry form from the Dinosaur Eggs and Babies admission desk or watch out for the entry form in the Otago Daily Times on Monday, December 28.
Otago Settlers Museum, 31 Queens Gardens.
Today, 10am-noon, 1pm-4pm, December 26-January 3: 10am-noon, 2pm-4pm.
Join Santa and friends in Pixie Town, celebrating Christmas past and present. Free.
Papatowai Carnival, Papatowai Beach.
December 31, noon - 5pm.
Visitor Information Centre, Octagon.
Daily, 11am: Walk Dunedin, inner-city walking tours.
Meet at the visitor centre.
Music and performance
Otago Museum, 419 Great King St
Today, noon: Tom Kelly plays Christmas tunes.
Otago Settlers Museum, 31 Queens Gardens.
Today, noon-1pm: Anna Bowen and Mike Moroney sing traditional Christmas carols. Suitable for the entire family. Free.
Talks and films
Dunedin Public Art Gallery, the Octagon.
Sundays, 1.30pm and Wednesdays, 12.30pm: Free guided tours of" Beloved: Works from the Dunedin Public Art Gallery".
An overview of some of the favourite and most treasured works in the collection.
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, "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, sculptures by Chris Meder 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.
Ends today: "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.
Ends today: Elise O'Neill and Aroha Novak "Expensive Rubbish" and Elspeth Fougere "Here, There and Everywhere (We are a Community of Cells)".
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.
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."
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".
Unitl May 2010: Taryn Simon: "An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar".
From Saturday until January 31: "A World with Chocolate".
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.
Ends today: "Dreaming of a Round Christmas", more than 80 original circular works.
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.
Heartland World Heritage Hotel, Haast Junction, until January 16.
"Stranded", an exhibition of prints, etchings by Liz Hawker and photographs by Gilbert van Reenen about Davey Louston's sealing gang, stranded on the Open Bay Islands from 1810-1814.
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.
Until January 16: Bookbinding work by Jane Armour.
From Sunday until January 10: "Keeping the Bees", new work by Jane Armour.
Inge Doesburg Studio and Gallery, 6 Castle St.
Ends today: "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.
Until January 27: Summer Show: including artists J. S. Parker, Garry Currin and Nigel Brown.
Glass works by Ann Robinson and ceramic works by Christine Thacker.
Closed December 25-January 4.
Milford Galleries, Queenstown, until 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: "Sweat and Starch": textiles from the museum's collections.
Otago Art Society, in the OAS gallery at Dunedin Railway Station, 1st floor, open daily.
Until January 31: "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", interactive exhibition aboutOtago 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".
Examines more than 150 years of engineering achievement in Otago - the development of telecommunications and transportation networks, water and wastewater systems, mining industries, electricity supplies, buildings, bridges and more.
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.
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.
Ends today: Christmas Exhibition of New Work.
Toi O Tahuna Fine Art Gallery, Church Lane, Queenstown.
Ends today: Group show of works by David Teata, Jason Hicks, Jenufa Waiti, Sam Foley and Sofia Minson.
