Asia Topa: Kagami at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre

It’s been five years since the last Asia Topa – Australia’s festival of performance art from across the region. The packed program includes an ambitious mixed reality performance by the late Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (behind The Last Emperor’s Academy Award-winning score) and Tin Drum company. And Broadsheet is giving away free double passes to Access members on opening night.

A pioneering avant-gardist, Sakamoto created the concert in the months before his death, resulting in an intimate reincarnation. You’ll be invited to don “magic glasses”, which fuse the real world setting with three-dimensional moving images, placing you on a virtual stage with Sakamoto. From here, wander around the stage, peering over Sakamoto’s shoulder as he plays 10 original pieces on a grand piano.

The show – praised by the Guardian for its “sheer technical wizardry” – has already been performed in New York and the UK, and its Asia Topa show at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre will be its southern hemisphere premiere.

The Asia Topa program will include 18 world premieres and the same number of new commissions – all spearheaded by new artistic director Jeff Khan. It’ll also have a new series of late-night events merging contemporary art and club culture.

Broadsheet Access members can score free double passes to experience Kagami on opening night, 7.30pm on February 19, 2025. Available from 14 February. Sign up and fill out the form on Access to redeem yours.

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