The House Collective presents: “Encounters Across Cultures”

The House Collective by Swire Hotels is launching the 2021 edition of its biennial art programme, “Encounters Across Cultures,” a series of cross-culture collaborative artistic performances across the brand’s four cities. The House Collective–comprising The Opposite House in Beijing, The Upper House in Hong Kong, The Temple House in Chengdu, and The Middle House in Shanghai—has invited artists from around the world to come together to create and explore the concept of space and movement, celebrating that sense of togetherness across borders through dance and architecture.

The theme of this year’s programme will be realized through interactive video installations that—coupled with varying styles of dance movements—will complement the work of the esteemed architects behind each House. The installations will encourage viewers to appreciate the spaces they spend time in and even find new ways to experience them.

Spread across the four Houses, the series of installations will tell the story of art across cultures in two chapters, the first between Shanghai and Beijing and the second between Hong Kong and Chengdu. The second chapter will take place at The Upper House in Hong Kong (from 23 September through 14 November) and then move to The Temple House in Chengdu. This chapter will seek to highlight the distinctly different architectural styles of the two houses through the contrasting styles of ballet and hip hop.

As a way to showcase the different energies and personalities between the two cities, ballerina Hennes Yuen from the Hong Kong Ballet, and hip-hop dancer Wan Siming from Chengdu will weave together their unique disciplines of dance. Directed by Leo Liu with choreographed movements by Yuh Egami (of the Hong Kong Ballet) and Andrea Carrucciu (who played MacBeth in the show Sleep No More), Yuen leads the audience through the serene sanctuary above the city that is The Upper House—while Wan Siming channels the young creative energy of the city’s hip-hop culture through the contemporary design aesthetic of The Temple House. Through the video installation, the audience will experience the dancers embracing their differences and creating harmony with each other.