The Outback's Upfront in 'Utopia'

· An exceptional exhibition of 31 swaths of richly colored fabric flutter in the Australian Embassy's air-conditioned breezes. These batiks hail from a central Australian desert community called Utopia, where the Aborigine women learned the craft back in the 1970s. Some are abstractions, and some refer to legend and myth. Animal tracks crossing one fabric's width recall performance and process art of the West even as the work's aerial perspective shuns landscape norms. All confound Western interpretations even as they share its visual language.

"Utopia: A Picture Story" at the Gallery of the Embassy of Australia, 1601 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or by appointment, 202-797-3000, to Aug. 29;http://www.usa.embassy.gov.au.

A Salute to Screen Prints

· No offense to the rock posters wallpapering Civilian's front room -- they are undeniably cool; props to Nick Pimentel and El Jefe Design in particular -- but the mini-retrospective of works produced at Alexandria's Hand Print Workshop International hanging in the gallery's rear deserves our undivided attention. Guided by screen print czar Dennis O'Neil, a stream of artists, many of them Russian, have produced works on paper that are unconventional in surface and content. Humor, both bawdy and black, reverberate in the prints of Alexander Djikia and Igor Makarevich, while local artist James Huckenpahler used minuscule glass beads to create finishes that look like flesh.

"Screams & Screens" at Civilian Art Projects, 406 Seventh St. NW, Wednesday-Saturday 2-6 p.m., 202-347-0022, to July 26 (closed July 4 and 5);http://www.civilianartprojects.com. On July 10 at 7:30 p.m., the gallery hosts a talk with Dennis O'Neil, director of Hand Print Workshop International.

Cool Views of Climate Change

· "Aqueous," a small group show downtown, pulls double duty as heat relief and climate change lecture. The exhibition's photographs, video and painting give sweaty Washingtonians some cooling eye candy: Pools, polar bears and ice caps figure prominently. The strongest work on view examines global water issues: Susannah Sayler's large-scale photographs of Peruvian glaciers and the aqueducts that serve them suggest that, in the epic battle between man and nature, nature may be losing.

"Aqueous" at Carroll Square Gallery, 975 F St. NW, Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-6 p.m., 202-234-5601, to Aug. 22;http://www.carrollsquare.com/gallery.htm.

Toying With Art

· Art referencing childhood, the trend that won't die, takes a stroll through DCAC, bringing along a mixed bag of photography, sculpture and works on paper -- some of it pretty good. One is Steven Strawn, who offers a battle of dolls and monsters that revisits Greek legend with a cast from Mattel. Another is Andrew Wodzianski, who departs from his overwrought portraiture to play with found images. Here he inserts the beastly bodies of superheroes onto the silhouettes of '70s-era fashion girls. One sylph wearing a pink dress is interrupted by massive pectoral musculature yet seemingly oblivious to her superpowers. A comment on contemporary women, perhaps?

"Kid Mutiny" at the District of Columbia Arts Center, 2438 18th St. NW, Wednesday-Sunday 2-7 p.m., 202-462-7833, to July 13;http://www.dcartscenter.org. On July 13, DCAC hosts a 5:30 screening of the documentary film "Toy Punks" and a 7 p.m. curator's talk.

Outfits of the Renaissance

· In Renaissance Italy, nobles wore the finest finery ducats could buy. The artists charged with painting those dukes and princes recorded every brocaded flourish to broadcast their subjects' wealth and power. Now, a suite of handmade costumes replicates, as faithfully as possible, outfits painted by the likes of Titian and Bronzino. At the Italian Embassy, full-scale mannequins wear doublets and gowns of Federico II Gonzaga or Duchess Eleonora di Toledo, among other Italian aristocrats. Each figure stands alongside a reproduction of his or her Renaissance likeness in a curious clash of the 16th and 21st centuries.

"Splendors of the Renaissance: Princely Attire in Italy" at the Embassy of Italy, 3000 Whitehaven St. NW, visit by appointment Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-noon and 2-4 p.m., to July 31;http://www.iicwashington.esteri.it. For appointment contact:iicwashington@esteri.itor 202-518-0998, Ext. 1.

Sublime Optical Delusions

· Nineteenth-century romantics knocked knees at the sight of awesome and terrifying landscapes they called sublime. Now, a Project 4 group show redefines the concept for the 21st century with irreverent works that will evoke a snigger, not a faint. Andrea Cohen, seen at the Hirshhorn in the fall of '06, suggests grand landscapes using low-rent materials and a wicked sense of humor. Kim Keever tricks us with a large-scale, moody cloudscape that turns out to be the dregs of somebody's home aquarium. The visual punning is reckless -- and brilliant.

"The Sublime Landscape" at Project 4, 903 U St. NW, 202-232-4340, Wednesday-Friday 2-6 p.m., Saturday noon-6 p.m., to July 19;http://www.project4gallery.com.