Following a five-year hiatus, Australia’s leading triennial festival of Asia-Pacific contemporary performance, Asia TOPA (Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts) returns from 20 February – 10 March 2025 with a city-wide celebration of world-class international and local contemporary performance, breathtaking installations, unmissable events, and vital cultural exchange.
This will be the third iteration of the joint initiative of Arts Centre Melbourne and the Sidney Myer Fund which debuted in 2017 and returned in 2020 until the COVID-19 pandemic brought international travel to a close. The 2025 triennial will showcase world-leading creativity and cultural innovation from the Asia-Pacific region.
In 2025, Asia TOPA will bring global premieres, free concerts, captivating performances and nightlife takeovers to Naarm/Melbourne from some of the most innovative local and international artists. With more than 33 performance projects including 18 world premieres and 18 new commissions, the 2025 triennial will be the first time Asia TOPA is led and curated by an artistic team with Asia-Pacific heritage.
Asia TOPA’s new Creative Director Jeff Khan said Asia TOPA plays a unique role in Australia’s arts landscape, bringing people together, capturing a moment in time and working together to imagine new futures.
“Asia TOPA embraces the breadth, uniqueness and diversity of Asia-Pacific arts and culture and celebrates Australia’s place as an Asia-Pacific country. There can be no denying that our strong connections with our regional neighbours have been developing over millennia,’’ said Khan.
“Across the program we’ve explored a plethora of different themes relevant to the Asia-Pacific experience, with particular focus on how we honour our elders and cultural pioneers, how we engage in conversation across generations, how new media and technology can be fused with traditional performance and how the arts are an integral bridge to cross social and cultural barriers.”
Arts Centre Melbourne’s CEO Karen Quinlan said Asia TOPA will champion a multiplicity of perspectives, cultures and creative expressions, and is a testament to Melbourne’s vibrant arts scene.
“This truly innovative festival of new international and local contemporary performances is only achievable through our collaboration with founding partners the Sidney Myer Fund and Creative Victoria, and the dedicated partnership of the other leading arts organisations across Melbourne and further. The incredible blend of artistic excellence and international collaboration is guaranteed to captivate both Victorians and those visiting.”
Sharing an early first look at next year’s program, Asia TOPA has revealed two program highlights.
Tickets are now on sale for the Southern Hemisphere premiere of the acclaimed mixed-reality concert experience KAGAMI (19 February – 16 March 2025). The groundbreaking show is a collaboration between mixed reality pioneers Tin Drum and the late legendary Japanese composer, pianist, record producer and actor Ryuichi Sakamoto. Sakamoto is known for being a member of influential electronic music pioneers Yellow Magic Orchestra and his acclaimed compositions for films such as The Last Emperor (1987) for which he won an Academy Award.
Wearing state-of-the-art virtual reality headsets audiences wander through the performance space as a virtual avatar of Sakamoto performs ten original compositions at the piano. Fusing dimensional moving photography with dazzling elegiac visuals, the profoundly emotional performance gives audiences the chance to reconnect with Sakamoto’s genius. Following critically acclaimed seasons in New York and the UK, KAGAMI will present at Singapore’s Esplanade later this month before its Australian exclusive presentation at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 19 February – 16 March 2025.
Alongside KAGAMI, an ambitious public art participation project led by renowned multi-disciplinary artists Daniel Kok (Singapore/Berlin) and Luke George (Naarm/Melbourne) will premiere during the triennial. Home Bound brings together different communities from across Naarm/Melbourne to help create a huge woven installation on Arts Centre Melbourne’s forecourt. Home Bound is the 9th Betty Amsden Participation Program large-scale community events designed to engage diverse communities, break cultural and economic barriers, inspire civic and public participation and build community pride.
Members of the public are now invited to donate rope and fibre materials to the work’s creation, to be woven into the installation during the Asia TOPA festival. In the lead up to the triennial, the public will also be invited to participate in public weaving workshops to help create the installation.
Kok and George, who previously suspended five AFL players in rope at the National of Gallery of Victoria in Still Lives (RISING 2022) will work with weavers, knitters, riggers and bondage practitioners to create an artwork that represents social dialogue, the negotiation of difference and be a testament to co-existence. The wider community is invited to get involved by donating materials, watching the creation process or partaking in workshops to help create the tapestry itself.
Home Bound is made possible by The Betty Amsden Endowment and the support of principal sponsor, the DECJUBA Foundation and project partner Craft Victoria.
Alongside the new performances and premieres, next year’s triennial will introduce three new programming streams – Nightlife – a late-night collision of contemporary art and club culture, Knowledge – public conversation and workshop events and Exchange – hosting and connecting with local and international arts industry representatives.
Next month on 12 November, Asia TOPA’s full 2025 performance program will be unveiled.
For more information visit asiatopa.com.au.