Exactly a month before Laila was due to meet Hong Kong audiences in February, the technical team from Finland were undergoing quarantine in the city, and the first batch of tickets were quickly snapped up. But, unfortunately, the fifth wave of the pandemic caused an unforeseen delay to this eagerly anticipated programme. To keep Laila and Hong Kong audiences connected, the Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) made a quick change to the programming—filming everyone involved in the production while Laila was in preparation.

Laila in Hong Kong reveals the process of putting together Laila, decoding the technologies behind it. Zeno Koo, Outreach Ambassador for Laila, takes the audience into the world of Laila. Watch local multidisciplinary artists and student talents recount the creative process for the artworks in the pop-up exhibition, which are revealed for the first time on screen!

A co-production of the HKAF and the Finnish National Opera and Ballet (FNOB), Laila is an immersive and interactive opera composed by world-renowned Maestro Esa-Pekka Salonen. It incorporates Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), video-projection mapping, 360 spatial sound and real-time sensors to offer a unique opera experience in the dome-shaped performance space. Laila was the winning project of Opera Beyond 2019, the FNOB’s open call for arts and technology project ideas, and won the prestigious FEDORA Digital Prize in 2020, Europe’s most prominent opera and ballet competition.