Inside Door 17 of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, a group of people circle a zone marked by tape, peering into its emptiness. Each wearing a headset, they stand close or sit at a distance, transfixed by a digital reincarnation of master composer Ryuichi Sakamoto at the piano, playing iconic pieces such as ‘Energy Flow’, ‘Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence’ and ‘The Last Emperor’.
On the morning that filming was to begin for KAGAMI, a collaboration between Sakamoto and mixed-reality studio Tin Drum that started in 2020, the artist received news that his cancer has returned. It took three days for the studio to capture Sakamoto’s hour-long performance, and KAGAMI debuted to audiences at The Shed, New York in June 2023, three months after his death.
KAGAMI makes its Australian exclusive appearance at Asia TOPA 2025 and provides an intimate one-on-one encounter with Sakamoto through the aid of mixed-reality technology. From the details of his facial features to the dexterity of his fingers moving across the keys, KAGAMI paints a convincing digital portrait of Sakamoto, and allows for a different access point to experience his artistic achievements.
Whereas closing your eyes may provide a rewarding experience in live concert environments, for KAGAMI, vision is the dominant sense. All the mastery of the technology is harboured in how real things look, while it still leaves much to be desired in terms of sound and acoustics, especially when compared to Opus, the documentary film that captured the final performance of Sakamoto’s life.
However, KAGAMI’s dynamic virtual settings pair well with the emotional atmosphere of Sakamoto’s work. For example, shimmering water droplets that are suspended in mid-air create a stunning backdrop to ‘Aqua’, while at another point in the performance, Sakamoto appears to be playing in among the Milky Way from outer space, with the Earth at our feet.
Read: Asia TOPA 2025: revitalising the spirit of the Asia-Pacific in Melbourne
KAGAMI may be the best of its genre in our present day – and no small feat from Tin Drum – but like a hologram of your grandmother, it can’t replicate the taste of that favourite dish, leaving a sense of bittersweet longing.
KAGAMI is running from 19 February to 16 March as part of Asia TOPA 2025; tickets from $75.
