Program

20 Feb — 10 Mar 2025

A Nightime Travesty

A Daylight Connection

Join our motley crew as they venture out into the ether where flight attendant Angel must face off with the greatest man of all time in a battle for the ultimate prize.

Ane Ta Abia

Aaron Choulai, Australian Art Orchestra and the Tatana Village Choir

Experience a stunning choral concert bringing together musicians and singers from Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Bread, Circuses and Home

Thukral and Tagra

Consume the sights, tastes and sounds of Punjab in this vibrant installation and performance series about migration and resilience.

Borrow and Exergie – Butter Dance

Melati Suryodarmo

These lectures provide an insight into the work and process of one of the most celebrated performance artists of our time. They are for all to enjoy, whether you’re an artist, arts curious or looking to get up close and personal with our artists.

Bunyi Bunyi Bumi

Raymond D. Blanco, Dr Priya Srinivasan, Waangenga Blanco, Alfira O'Sullivan, Murtala

Dance, body percussion, and stunning visuals, Bunyi Bunyi Bumi unites Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and Indonesian artists in a groundbreaking world premiere.

ButohBAR 番狂わせ OUT of ORDER II

Yumi Umiumare and ButohOUT!

Dive into a surreal nightclub experience where cabaret collides with chaos!

Chronotopia

Sim Chi Yin

Chronotopia is a specially-curated exhibition accompanying Sim Chi Yin’s Asia TOPA performance One Day We’ll Understand.

Fire Drill Scenario

Geumhyung Jeong

Expect the unexpected in this wry, somehow ridiculous but useful performance that challenges the safety zones of art and life.

FROCK A WHANAUNGATANGA

The Pacific Sisters

An awe-inspiring exhibition and workshop series by legendary Tagata Moana (People of the Pacific) art collective, the Pacific Sisters.

Frock Enz Limited Edition and FrocktiVAtion

The Pacific Sisters

Zoot suits and ActiVAtions take over Smorgon Family Plaza

Gapu Ŋupan (Chasing the Rainbow)

Rachael Wallis, Banula Marika and Suming Rupi

Gapu Ŋupan is a must-see Asia TOPA performance bringing together tradition with contemporary culture.

Goldfish

Terrapin in association with Aichi Prefectural Art Theater

Goldfish is a ground-breaking collaboration between celebrated Tasmanian puppetry company Terrapin and Japan’s Aichi Prefectural Art Theater, with performers from Australia and Japan.

Home Bound

Luke George and Daniel Kok

In Home Bound, diverse rope materials and practices are woven together to create a massive social tapestry. Members of different communities who do not typically share the same space collaborate to build a giant rope installation.

KAGAMI

Ryuichi Sakamoto and Tin Drum

An innovative mixed reality concert created by legendary composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto in collaboration with Tin Drum.

Lapse

Melati Suryodarmo

Descend into disorder at the Australian premiere of acclaimed Indonesian artist Melati Suryodarmo’s new work

Middle Of A Moment

Aki Onda

Aki Onda's debut Australian survey exhibition, curated by Lawrence English at The Substation.

Milestone

William Yang and the MSO with Elena Kats-Chernin

Asia TOPA opens with a landmark new commission by one of Australia’s most celebrated artists.

Oblation

Vijay Thillaimuthu, featuring Hari Sivanesan ensemble

Encounter the infinite in this new audiovisual experience, created by Tamil-Australian electronic composer, Vijay Thillaimuthu.

One Day We'll Understand

Sim Chi Yin

One Day We’ll Understand is a new multimedia performance exploring memory and inheritance through the compelling family history of visual artist Sim Chi Yin.

Opera for the Dead (祭歌)

Mindy Meng Wang and Monica Lim

A contemporary Chinese cyber-opera that reimagines the connection between life and death.

Pulau (Island)

Melanie Lane

Pulau (Island) is a site-specific response to Yayoi Kusama’s iconic body of work.

SAUNIGA

FAFSWAG

Join us for this work-in-progress sharing by the internationally acclaimed Queer Indigenous arts collective FAFSWAG.

SCI-FI: Mythologies Transformed

This exciting exhibition offers fresh insights on science fiction. The lines connecting science fiction with ancient philosophy and mythologies are brought to light through the work of Asian and First Nations women artists and collectives.

Sensing Dark Matter

Su Wenchi

Sensing Dark Matter is a VR experience merging art and physics, inviting viewers to explore a speculative universe where dark matter and its gravitational effects become perceptible.

Shadows in Twin Cities (쌍둥이 도시의 그림자들)

JESSICA WILSON AND GIJONG YOO

Shadows in Twin Cities brings together children from Jeonju (Korea) and Melbourne (Australia) in unusual conversations between each other and their city landscapes.

Shadows in Twin Cities: Meet Me (너랑 나랑)

JESSICA WILSON AND GIJONG YOO

Explore the possibilities for play and conversation across hemispheres as you meet a new friend in Jeonju, Korea via a life-size video screen.

Shadows in Twin Cities: Find My Shadow (그림자 숨바꼭질)

JESSICA WILSON AND GIJONG YOO

The shadows of children in Korea have flown across hemispheres. Can you find where they’ve landed?

Shadows in Twin Cities: Watch Me Fly (바람을 만난 그림자)

JESSICA WILSON AND GIJONG YOO

A large-scale video installation takes place simultaneously on the screens of Federation Square and a civic location in Jeonju.

Sonik Ekologies

Liquid Architecture

Step into Sonik Ekologies, an intimate listening room curated by Liquid Architecture.

The Female Pope

Rakini Devi

You are invited to an audience with The Female Pope.

The Robot Dog

Roshelle Yee Pui Fong and Matthew Ngamurarri Heffernan

Sink your teeth into this cheeky new theatre show posing some of the most provocative and challenging questions of our time.

Tiny, Fluffy, Sweet

Ran Chen

A live performance exploring the long-underestimated complexity of the human-animal emotional experience of "cuteness".

U>N>I>T>E>D

Chunky Move

Enter an exhilarating speculative future on the stage of the iconic Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Turn up to UNITED early and join in the pre-show ambience with a curated set list by Gabber Modus Operandi.

Unpacked No. 2: Political

Melati Suryodarmo

These lectures provide an insight into the work and process of one of the most celebrated performance artists of our time. They are for all to enjoy, whether you’re an artist, arts curious or looking to get up close and personal with our artists.

Water Song

Sunny Kim's Ensemble Ochaye

Sunny Kim's Ensemble Ochaye creates extraordinary sound worlds through deep cultural collaborations, storytelling and adventurous music making.

Yayoi Kusama

Experience this ambitious world-premiere exhibition at NGV International, celebrating the illustrious career of iconic contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama.