An exhibition of photographs and field recordings by Australian war artist Shaun Gladwell at the Samstag Museum of Art offers an insight into the experience of soldiers in the 21st century – a timely showing as the nation honours its servicemen and women this weekend.

Other Weekend Picks include the Tasting Australia events in Victoria Square, Silvers Circus, school holiday treat The Magic Chicken, and the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art.

Shaun Gladwell: Afghanistan

This Australian War Memorial travelling exhibition, supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, comprises photos taken by official war artist Shaun Gladwell when he travelled through Afghanistan and the Middle East with the Australian Defence Force in 2009. It is showing at the Samstag Museum of Art, which will be open from midday until 5pm on ANZAC Day and 2-5pm on Saturday. Gladwell describes his images as “experimental portraits” focusing on the interaction of a human presence in a hostile and severe environment. The Samstag Museum is also presenting Gladwell’s Field Recordings installation which reflects his experience in recording the reality of war (until May 16).

ANZAC Day

The dawn service at the South Australian National War Memorial on North Terrace begins at 6.15am, while the ANZAC Day March begins at 9.30am on the corner of North Terrace and Gawler Place. The march route plus a full list of other commemorative services in the city and regional SA can be downloaded from the RSL website. The traditional gambling game of Two Up will be played in the Drill Hall, Torrens Parade Ground, from around lunch time, as well as at many local RSL clubs (you can download a potted history of the game, plus the rules, here).  The Army Museum of South Australia, at Keswick Army Barracks on Anzac Highway, will be open following the dawn service.

Tasting Australia

This biennial food fest begins on Sunday, offering a wide range of events in the city and regional SA which don’t just encourage participants to eat and drink, but also to think about where our food comes from and how it’s produced and processed. There will be a series of Town Square events centred on Victoria Square, with Sunday’s sessions offering lessons and presentations from chefs including Poh Ling Yeow, Andre Ursini, Maggie Beer, Simon Bryant and Cheong Liew. Fork on the Road mobile food vendors will also be converging on the square from 11am to 5pm. Tasting Australia continues until May 4, with the full program available online.

Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art

With the theme Dark Heart, the Art Gallery of SA’s 2014 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art offers the chance to see cutting-edge works by 28 contemporary Australian artists and collectives. The exhibition (running until May 11) includes photography, painting, sculpture, installation and the moving image. Artist Trent Park will discuss his work in a free talk at 1pm on Saturday (April 26) in Gallery 23.  (Image right: Trent Parke, no. 001, Candid portrait of two men on a street corner, Adelaide, from the Street Portrait Series, The Camera is God, 2013, pigment print, 300.0 x 112.0 cm © Trent Parke. Courtesy Magnum photos, Stills Gallery, Sydney and Hugo Michell, Adelaide.)

Death in Bowengabbie

Despite its title, this play by Adelaide’s Caleb Lewis is actually a love story. At its centre is Oscar, who has returned home to Bowengabbie to attend a funeral – one of many in a town which is populated largely by old folks and where funerals are more like a party. But it turns out there is also something else drawing Caleb to the town. Death in Bowengabbie opens at the Bakehouse Theatre tonight (Thursday) and plays until May 10.

Silvers Circus

Back under the big top in Bonython Park until May 11, Silvers Circus promises two hours of “glamour and death-defying acts”, including “the Globe of Death” (motorbike riders speeding around a 3.5m-diametre metal globe), a high-wire act, clowns, hoola hoops, bounce-ball juggling, an illusionist and football-playing  dogs. Read InDaily’s review.

Max Savage and the False Idols

If you’re looking for some soulful Sunday arvo tunes, this six-piece band’s free gig at the Wheatsheaf Hotel could just hit the spot. The result of a collaboration between Alice Springs-based singer/songwriter Max Savage and Adelaide soul producer Ross McHenry, its sound is described as “vintage soul meets the outback”, with stories of “heartache, loneliness and redemption” Savage’s trademark.

Robyn Hitchcock and Steve Kilbey

Music fans will remember Kilbey as the frontman from Aussie alt-rock band The Church, while Hitchcock led British group The Soft Boys. On Friday night at The Gov, as part of their Insects & Stars tour, the two join forces for a gig which will showcase songs from their extensive catalogues, promising “an unforgettable evening of whimsical wordplay and psychedelic nursery rhymes”.

The Magic Chicken

“A slapstick treat of culinary chaos” is how the promoters describe this school holiday treat presented by New Zealand company Theatre Beating. InDaily’s reviewer agrees, saying the chaotic tale of two chefs, a villain and a chook is a highly entertaining hour of physical theatre full of clowning, creativity and clever musical accompaniment. Recommended for children aged five and up, it’s playing at the Dunstan Playhouse until April 27.

Adelaide Roller Derby

Roll up for the roller derby this Sunday at Greyhound Park, when the Salty Dolls take on the Mile Die Club. Doors open at 2pm at the Angle Park venue, with organisers predicting a fiery clash: “The Salty Dolls recently played a belter of a bout in the season opener against the Wild Hearses and sailed past them with a narrow four-point win – will the Mile Die Club be able to scuttle the seafarers?”

Art and Travel: Bring Me Back a Souvenir

This exhibition at historic Carrick Hill comprises 50 artworks by Russian-born French-naturalised artist Alexandre Iacovleff, who participated in two famous journeys across Africa in 1924-25 and Asia in 1931-32. Three large original pastel portrait drawings from Carrick Hill’s own collection are among the works on display, along with lithographs from limited-edition illustrated folios salvaged from a fire on the property in 1958, and original drawings from the Art Gallery of SA and the Art Gallery of NSW. Carrick Hill is also hosting a display of collectible cars this Sunday during the Celebration of the Motorcar.

On screen

See InDaily’s reviews of the latest films screening in Adelaide:

The Other Woman
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
The Invisible Woman
Like Father, Like Son
Any Day Now
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Noah
Half of a Yellow Sun
I, Frankenstein
Need for Speed
Non-Stop