A multidisciplinary art-tech experience that brings together media art, piano performance and emotional tracking technology to explore Hong Kong’s evolving memory, emotion and cityscape
The Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) proudly presents City Reverie, the opening exhibition of the ARTS · TECH 4.0 series. Comprising a spectacular live performance and an interactive web-based artwork, City Reverie stands as a landmark experiment where piano, media art and emotion-tracking technology converge to reimagine Hong Kong as a living field of resonance. By weaving performance and interactive participation into both stage and public space, the project invites audiences to pause, reflect and encounter the city not only as architecture or heritage, but also as memory, rhythm and future possibility to reconnect with the city. Each moment becomes unrepeatable, yet deeply connected to the collective pulse of Hong Kong today.
Interdisciplinary Performance Shaped by the City’s Emotional Pulse
Staged at the Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre from 8 to 9 October as the Opening Showcase of the Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo (HKPAX), City Reverie is a 50-minute interdisciplinary performance that brings together the creative vision of curator and producer Joel Kwong, media artist Vvzela Kook, music director Fung Lam and artistic director Silver Cheung. Conceived as both performance and installation, the work unfolds as a poetic meditation on memory, urban transformation and the emotional connections that shape our experience of Hong Kong.
Within the theatre space, the stage is transformed into an immersive visual field where layered city lines, harbour contours, streets, people and objects, and abstract light regenerate in space. Piano and digital technology converge, with keystrokes translated into lines of light and shadow, while sound and image respond to one another in real time to create a sensory experience suspended between the physical and the virtual.
Structured as a prelude followed by five music chapters, City Reverie traces a journey from tangible cultural presence to digital transformation and speculative futures. Each chapter offers audiences a distinct perspective on how memory, technology and art intersect to reinterpret cultural experience and reimagine the city’s evolving identity. The final chapter, infused with emotion-tracking technology, is uniquely shaped by audience emotional data gathered on-site during the prelude and integrated with sound and motion, ensuring that every performance is singular, unrepeatable and deeply connected to
the collective atmosphere of that night’s gathering.
As the Opening Showcase of HKPAX, City Reverie exemplifies Hong Kong’s capacity for interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation in the performing arts. It invites audiences to reflect on the meaning of cultural preservation in an age of digital transformation, and to consider how shared emotions and collective memory can carry our stories forward into the future.
Reframing the City Through Non-Human Eyes
Extending the themes of City Reverie into the public realm, Objectopia, an interactive web-based artwork created by media artist Vvzela Kook, will take over the LED display at Salisbury Garden from 2 to 22 October, transforming LED display into an online interactive digital playground.
Rooted in “Object-oriented Ontology”, Objectopia invites audiences to “become” one of the 88 Hong Kong-inspired objects, creatures, places and cultural symbols, from fishballs, cotton tree flowers and wild boars to the Star Ferry, Haw Par Mansion and traditional festivals. Navigating a virtual landscape through mobile devices, participants encounter others in real time, uncovering unexpected connections and relationships that shape the city’s cultural fabric. By shifting attention beyond human-centred perspectives, Objectopia reimagines Hong Kong as a living network of stories, memories and encounters, where every object becomes a centre of experience and meaning.
Together, the live performance and interactive artwork form a once-in-a-lifetime experiment at the intersection of art, technology and emotion. City Reverie invites audiences to pause, reflect and experience Hong Kong as a field of resonance — where memory, emotion and future possibilities converge.
Joel Kwong, Curator & Producer of City Reverie, said, “City Reverie is not about cataloguing landmarks or preserving objects as static heritage. A city comes into being through countless subtle acts of response — how we walk its streets, remember its rhythms, and situate ourselves within its flow. This project is an inquiry into the present and the future, inviting us to move alongside a city in perpetual transformation. By merging piano, media art, and emotion-tracking technology, we create a collective field of resonance where memory and anticipation converge, and where each performance becomes a singular reflection of that moment in time.”
Vvzela Kook, Media Artist of City Reverie, expressed, “Objectopia invites audiences to see Hong Kong anew. By stepping into the role of an object, a place, an animal or a cultural symbol, we begin to see the city not as a collection of landmarks, but as a network of interconnected stories. Through these encounters, we discover new relationships that continue to shape how we understand and imagine Hong Kong.”
Mr Kenneth Fok, Chairman of HKADC, said, “In line with the Council’s 2026-2028 Strategic Development Directives, we are dedicated to fostering the development of arts tech. Through the ARTS · TECH Exhibition series, we are committed to support innovative artistic practices that bridge creativity, technology and public engagement. City Reverie, debut exhibition of ARTS · TECH Exhibition 4.0, demonstrates how artists can use technology not simply as a tool, but as a means of deepening human connection, enriching cultural dialogue and expanding the ways audiences experience arts tech.”
During the exhibition period, a series of public programmes including guided tours and live performance will complement the project, offering the public a deeper exploration of urban memory, cultural experience, artistic innovation and the relationship between technology and emotion.
Seats are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Register online now: www.arts-tech.hk/exhibition/city-reverie
Programme Details: City Reverie
I. Digital Playground
Date: 2 – 22 October 2026
Time: 10am – 10pm
Location: LED Display, Salisbury Garden, Avenue of Stars
II. Performance
Date: 8 October 2026 (Thu)
Time: 8 – 9pm
Location: Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui
Creative Team
Curator & Producer: Joel Kwong
Media Artist: Vvzela Kook
Music Director: Fung Lam
Art Director: Silver Cheung
City Reverie: Art x Tech x Music Immersive Live Performance
The performance is structured as a prelude followed by five musical chapters, live show blending local talents in music, media art and cinematic design. The work continually rethinks the relationship between city and memory, focusing equally on the present and the future to come. Framed within the perspective of deep time, it explores how technology and emotion can shape a resonant urban field.
Anchored by piano and immersive Unreal Engine visuals, the work explores digital preservation as transformation rather than loss, culminating in a final movement shaped by audience emotional data gathered on-site during the prelude and making every performance unique and unrepeatable.
Performance Highlights
Audiences can record their own emotional data at the data collection area before the performance, taking part in creating the evening’s unique piece of music.
20 minutes before the show starts, audiences are invited to immerse in the live game environment, entering the world of City Reverie through immersive projections and soundscapes.
Two pianists perform across two baby grand pianos and two electronic keyboards, moving seamlessly between instruments throughout five chapters to present a genre-crossing musical journey.
Surrounded by gauze and brought to life with projections and screens, creating a dynamic performance space that combines media art and live performance.
Date: 8 October 2026 (Thu)
Time: 8 – 9pm
Location: Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui
Fee: HK$280
Ticketing: www.urbtix.hk/event-detail/15455
Feel/Object: Emotion-Interactive Art Experience
Led by media artist Vvzela Kook, this unique guided experience delves into the creative philosophy behind City Reverie and Objectopia. Participants will wear emotion-tracking devices that transform their emotion data into an interactive medium, opening a living conversation with the artwork. More than a guided tour, it is a co-constructive process weaving together perception, technology and urban memory. Between data and visuals, through dialogue and exploration, a singular field of perceptual experience unfolds.
Date: 11 October 2026 (Sun), 17 October 2026 (Sat)
Time: 2:30pm & 4pm each day
Duration: 45 minutes
Location: Salisbury Garden Central Lawn, Avenue of Stars (gather in front of the LED screen)
Capacity: 20 per session
Fee: HK$30
Language: Cantonese
Registration: www.popticket.hk/event/city-reverie
About ARTS ‧ TECH Exhibition 4.0
Since 2022, the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) has launched the ARTS ‧ TECH Exhibition series to bring arts tech into the community, offering the public innovative and interactive experiences in both real and virtual spaces. The first three editions were held in different locations, exploring the fusion of old and new cultures as well as the diverse possibilities of integrating arts tech into different artistic disciplines.
In line with the HKADC’s 2026-2028 Strategic Development Directives, ARTS ‧ TECH 4.0 is dedicated to promote the exploration of Arts Technology and allow audiences to experience the diversity and future possibilities of arts tech from multiple perspectives. Centered on urban culture and co-creative experiences, the programme comprises exhibitions, performances and interactive projects to explore the evolving relationship between people, technology and society. By integrating artistic creation, technological experimentation and public participation, ARTS ‧ TECH 4.0 encourages audiences to reflect on creativity, identity, urban memory and future development from fresh perspectives—fostering multi-layered dialogue between culture and technology and opening up new possibilities for the city’s cultural ecosystem.
