Back to all News

Announcing Our Asia TOPA Program

Abbotsford Convent is excited to partner with Asia TOPA on an electrifying program celebrating the creative imagination of artists and cultures in the Asia-Pacific region from January – March 2020.

Abbotsford Convent is excited to partner with Asia TOPA on an electrifying program celebrating the creative imagination of artists and cultures in the Asia-Pacific region from January – March 2020.

More than 30 Victorian arts organisations will present contemporary Asian arts and culture across the festival. Australian artists, groups and companies have connected with the cultures of 17 Asia-Pacific countries to present collaborations and intercultural works spanning music, dance, theatre, contemporary performance, film, digital, visual art, public talks and more.

The Convent will host four programs as part of the festival spanning performance, installation art and a thrumming dive bar at the centre of it all.

From 27 February – 1 March 2020, Double Delicious offers a taste of the meals that mean the most to five public figures. Join cooking legend Elizabeth Chong, writer and media personality Benjamin Law, kimchi specialist Heather Jeong, performance maker Valerie Berry, and choreographer and performer Raghav Handa as they reveal intimate glimpses into their lives in an immersive performance that tantalises all the senses. Tickets are on sale now.

When It Rains (I feel like eating Jeon) is an installation inspired by the story of a Korean elder in Ansan, who takes a walk every day to the place where the sea used to be. Open Thrusday to Sunday, from 20 February – 1 March, the work considers the connections between site, sensation and memory, and invites audiences to explore their own associations in a fluid, decentered space.

HuRU-hARa is a dive bar that will showcase avant-garde artists from across South East Asia from 20 February – 1 March. The hub will unfold to create an ever-evolving artwork, a perpetual performance and a non-stop party. Follow the Facebook event for performer announcements.

What Happened in Shanghai by Victoria Chiu, from 21 – 24 February. Drawing on her family roots in Shanghai, choreographer Victoria Chui interrogates how the contemporary body can illuminate different attitudes towards family – and why families make the often difficult decision to move their home across borders. Four dancers explore the spaces between death and new life, accompanied by Guzheng player Mindy Meng Wang and Chinese electronic artist MHP (aka Ma Hai Ping).