Australia | Asia TOPA triennial of Asia-Pacific performance 2025
Asia TOPA, Australia’s triennial of Asia-Pacific performance, returns to Melbourne from 20 February to 10 March 2025 with a programme of new work across dance, theatre, music, visual art and beyond, alongside a new nightlife programme and opportunities to connect with artists and creative communities.
A joint initiative of Arts Centre Melbourne and the Sidney Myer Fund, and supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, Asia TOPA is a city-wide celebration taking place over three weeks and is led by Creative Director Jeff Khan.
The triennial is made up of three public programming streams: Performance, Nightlife and Knowledge. The headline programme for Asia TOPA, the Performance stream features 33 performances, of which 18 are world premieres and 18 have been commissioned as new works by Asia TOPA and Arts Centre Melbourne.
Some highlights include:
- ‘Opera for the Dead’ (21 – 23 February 2025) is a new work inspired by Chinese mourning rituals but speaks to our common experiences of death, mourning and ancestry, created by award-winning composer and guzheng artist Mindy Meng Wang and sound technologist and composer Monica Lim.
- Australia’s Chunky Move collaborates with Javanese experimental techno group Gabber Modus Operandi, Bali-based streetwear label Future Loundry and world leaders in animatronic design, Naarm/Melbourne based Creature Technology Co for the work U>N>I>T>E>D (27 February – 2 March 2025), set to gamelan-infused, Javanese trance-inspired techno beats and wearing upcycled exoskeleton costumes.
- Acclaimed Indonesian artist Melati Suryodarmo will present the Australian premiere of Lapse (6 – 8 March 2025) a dance and live music piece that responds to the increasing chaos of our times.
- Beijing and Utrecht-based theatre maker and artist Ran Chen brings her fascination with cute animal videos to Tiny, Fluffy, Sweet for a limited season full of heart, humour and biting cultural insight.
- Bread, Circuses and Home (28 February – 10 March 2025) is a free public installation and mini-festival at Fed Square by innovative Delhi–based duo Jiten Thukral (Jalandhar, Punjab) and Sumir Tagra (New Delhi); a display of Punjabi folk music, radio programming and interactive game plays, Bread, Circuses and Home is a celebration of the unique ways that cultures adapt, survive and transform in the wake of international migration.