Asia TOPA (Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts) is celebrating its international success with 14 commissioned works now touring 17 cities across Australia, Asia and beyond. To mark the milestone, the festival’s artist showcase series Asia TOPA Radar will return to Arts Centre Melbourne for one night only on 19 November 2025, spotlighting leading Asia-Pacific artists and collaborators.
Creative Director Jeff Khan says the festival’s expanding reach reflects the universal power of performance. “It's incredibly rewarding to see these works, which saw the beginning of their performance life at Asia TOPA 2025, now connecting with so many different audiences across the world. This speaks to the power of art to transcend borders and build meaningful relationships.”
Among the standout works now touring globally are William Yang’s Milestone, which opened Asia TOPA 2025 and has since travelled to Brisbane Festival, OzAsia Festival and soon Seoul Performing Arts Festival; and Ane Ta Abia, a collaboration between the Australian Art Orchestra and Papua New Guinea’s Tatana Village Choir, acclaimed by Limelight as “subtle, beautiful, and brilliant all at once.”
Chunky Move’s U>N>I>T>E>D has been hailed as a “futuristic epic” (ArtsHub) and continues to tour internationally, with performances in Italy, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the innovative VR work Sensing Dark Matter has reached audiences across Europe and Asia, from Utrecht’s SPRING Festival to Taiwan’s Taipei Arts Festival.
Continuing its commitment to artistic exchange, Asia TOPA will also feature at India’s Serendipity Arts Festival in December, where Club 8 artist Cloudy Ku joins an international exchange program. The festival’s curators, Thukral and Tagra, have also commissioned a reimagined version of Chunky Move’s You, Beauty.
Next month’s Melbourne showcase will celebrate this ongoing spirit of collaboration with performances and conversations from award-winning choreographer and dancer Amrita Hepi, curators Cloudy Ku and Harrison Hall of 乒乒乓乓 pin-pin-piàng-piàng, and Australian Art Orchestra Artistic Director Aaron Choulai, fresh from his Port Moresby performance of Ane Ta Abia.
“After a massive Asia TOPA festival earlier this year, I’m super excited to share a fresh selection of artists and creative stories,” says Khan. “Radar is a place to connect with community and hear directly from leading Asia Pacific artists about what they’re making, how they’re working and what’s inspiring them. It’s like a party meets an artist talk, and everyone’s invited.”
For more information visit artscentremelbourne.com.au.