Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui | Hong Kong Arts Development Council Presents "Art. Tech" Exhibition 4.0 - Thematic Exhibition "My City" Officially Launches

Description

The Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) proudly presents "Art. Tech" Exhibition 4.0 — the inaugural thematic exhibition "My City" officially launches. Comprising cross-media live performances and web-based interactive works, "My City" reimagines Hong Kong as a fluid resonant space by integrating piano, media art, and emotion-tracking technology, exploring the evolving relationship between memory, emotion, and urban landscape. The works extend live performances and interactive participation beyond the stage into public spaces, inviting audiences to slow down and rediscover Hong Kong not merely through architecture or urban relics, but through memory, rhythm, and future perspectives, rebuilding connections with the city. Each moment is unique yet intimately tied to the emotional pulse of contemporary Hong Kong.

Cross-media Performance Shaping the City's Emotional Pulse

"My City" is a 50-minute cross-disciplinary performance scheduled to be staged at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Theatre from October 8 to 9, 2026, serving as the opening performance of the Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo. The performance is co-created by curator and producer Kwong Ka-ling, media artist Qu Yuanche, music director Lam Fung, and artistic director Cheung Sai-hung. Combining live performance and installation art, the work reflects on memory, urban transformation, and the emotional connections shaping Hong Kong’s lived experience, unfolding a poetic imagination of "My City" within the theatre.

The theatre space transforms into an immersive visual art environment, where layered urban lines, coastal contours, streets, people, objects, and abstract light and shadow interweave and generate within the space. Piano and digital technology merge seamlessly — piano keys become lines of light, sound and imagery resonate with each other, creating a multi-sensory experience hovering between reality and virtuality.

"My City" is divided into a prelude and five movements, guiding audiences from tangible cultural existence through digital transformation to imaginative futures. Each movement explores, from different perspectives, how memory, technology, and art intersect to reinterpret cultural experiences and envision Hong Kong’s evolving urban identity. The final movement integrates emotion-tracking technology, using data collected during the prelude to map audience emotional fluctuations, combining sound and visuals to make each performance uniquely generated and performed live, becoming a shared emotional audiovisual landscape.

As the opening performance of the Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo, "My City" showcases Hong Kong’s potential for cross-disciplinary collaboration and innovation in performing arts, while inviting audiences to reflect on the meaning of cultural preservation in the digital transformation era and how shared emotions and collective memory carry the stories of "My City" into the future.

Reimagining My City Through Non-Human Eyes

Extending the theme of "My City" into public space, media artist Qu Yuanche’s web-based interactive work "The Pavilion of All Things" will be displayed on the LED screens at Salisbury Garden from October 2 to 22, 2026, transforming the screens into an online interactive digital playground.

"The Pavilion of All Things" is based on the concept "Every Thing is the Center," inviting audiences to embody 88 objects, creatures, places, and cultural symbols within Hong Kong’s rich cultural fabric — including fish eggs, kapok flowers, wild boars, Star Ferry, Tiger Balm Garden, and various traditional festivals. Audiences can enter a virtual Hong Kong landscape via mobile devices, roaming as different identities and interacting in real-time with other participants, discovering unexpected connections and relationships during exploration. "The Pavilion of All Things" reimagines Hong Kong through non-human perspectives, envisioning the city as a network of stories, memories, and encounters, where every object becomes the center of experience and meaning.

The live performance and interactive works together form a unique experiment combining art, technology, and emotion. "My City" invites audiences to pause, savor the present, and feel Hong Kong as a space carrying emotional pulses, where memory, emotion, and future imagination converge.

Kwong Ka-ling, curator and producer of "My City," states: "'My City' does not merely list urban landscapes nor preserve objects in static forms. The city’s formation stems from countless subtle responses. How we walk through streets, remember the city’s rhythm, and position ourselves within its flow are all parts of constituting the city. The work aims to explore the present and future, inviting audiences to journey alongside a constantly changing city. Through integrating piano, media art, and emotion-tracking technology, we create a collective space continuously rewritten between memory and anticipation, where each performance blooms uniquely for the moment."

Qu Yuanche, media artist of "My City," states: "'The Pavilion of All Things' invites audiences to view Hong Kong from a fresh perspective. When we embody an object, a place, an animal, or a cultural symbol, we begin to see the city differently. The city is no longer merely composed of landmarks but becomes an interconnected network of stories. Through these encounters, we discover new relationships, continuing to shape how we understand and imagine Hong Kong."

Mr. Kenneth Fok, Chairman of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, states: "In alignment with our '2026-2028 Strategic Development Direction,' we actively promote the development of art and technology. HKADC supports innovative artistic practices through the 'Art. Tech' exhibition series, connecting creativity, technology, and public participation. As the first exhibition of 'Art. Tech' Exhibition 4.0, 'My City' demonstrates that artists do not merely view technology as a creative tool but use it to deepen human connections, enrich cultural exchange, and expand audience experiences of art and technology."

During the exhibition, audiences may also participate in a series of public activities, including guided tours and live performances, to explore urban memory, cultural experience, artistic innovation, and the relationship between technology and emotion.

Seats are limited, first-come, first-served. Please register online immediately: www.arts-tech.hk/exhibition/city-reverie

Event Details:
"My City"

I.      Digital Playground
Date:      October 2–22, 2026
Time:      10:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Location:      LED Screens at Salisbury Garden, Avenue of Stars

II.    Performance
Date:     October 8, 2026 (Thursday)
Time:     8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location:      Hong Kong Cultural Centre Theatre

Creative Team
Curator & Producer  Kwong Ka-ling
Media Artist  Qu Yuanche
Music Director       Lam Fung
Artistic Director       Cheung Sai-hung

1.        "My City": An Immersive Live Performance Combining Art × Technology × Music

"My City" is a live performance comprising a prelude and five movements, bringing together local talents in music, media art, and film art to extend reflections on the city and memory into the present and future. The work re-examines, from a deep-time perspective, how technology and emotion resonate, transforming the city into a dynamic perceptual space.

Centered on piano performance and immersive visual effects created with Unreal Engine, the work explores how digital technology should not be understood as a binary opposition between preservation and loss, but as a process of transformation. The final movement will be co-generated based on emotional data collected from audiences upon entry, making each performance an irreplicable, uniquely present experience.

Performance Features

Ÿ   Audiences may input their emotional data at the emotion data collection zone before the performance, co-creating a unique musical piece for that evening.

Ÿ   Twenty minutes before the performance begins, audiences can immerse themselves in the on-site game environment through immersive projections and sound effects, entering the world of "My City" in advance.

Ÿ   Two pianists seamlessly switch between two small grand pianos and two electronic keyboards, embarking on a cross-disciplinary musical journey across five movements.

Ÿ   The venue is surrounded by gauze screens, with projections and screens illuminating the space, presenting a dynamic environment blending media art and live performance.

Date:      October 8, 2026 (Thursday)
Time:     8:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location:      Hong Kong Cultural Centre Theatre
Fee:      $280
Tickets:      www.urbtix.hk/event-detail/15455

2.      Emotional Transformation of All Things: Emotion-Interactive Art Tour

Guided by media artist Qu Yuanche, this tour delves into the creative concepts and structural contexts of "My City" and "The Pavilion of All Things." Participants will wear emotion-tracking technology devices, transforming their emotional data into interactive media to engage with the works. This is not merely a tour but a unique experience of co-constructing perception, technology, and urban memory. Between data and visuals, dialogue and exploration, a unique perceptual space unfolds.

Date:      October 11, 2026 (Sunday)
                  October 17, 2026 (Saturday)
Time:      2:30 PM and 4:00 PM
Duration:      45 minutes
Location:      Grass area at Salisbury Garden, Avenue of Stars (meet in front of the screen)
Capacity:      20 participants per session
Fee:      $30
Language:      Cantonese
Registration:      www.popticket.hk/event/city-reverie