With technology’s dizzying capabilities and omnipresence in our lives today, we come to wonder: is tech cold and lifeless, the opposite of the human vitality of the creative arts? Is tech disconnecting us from one another or empowering us, pushing the possibilities to create and connect?

This year, an extension of our biennial art programme "Encounters Across Cultures" travels to Tokyo to celebrate The House Collective's new chapter in Japan. Five dance artists of different ages, nationalities and dance backgrounds tell a narrative across the future site of our new House. The audience is led through the story of honoured tradition, modernity, harmony and new possibilities as dancers engage and connect through contrasting movements and spaces. 

Our biennial art programme Encounters Across Culture 2021 has finally come to an end with interactive installations on show at our Houses since this summer. Now reaching a close after over two years of remote collaboration amid a global pandemic, Curator and Producer Patsy Lo and The House Collective’s Art Programme Lead Clarissa Tam reflect upon their journey creating across borders, across dance and architecture. 

At The House Collective, we believe that incredible creativity comes from crossing cultures. Encounters Across Cultures is our biennial art programme where we invite artists from different backgrounds to collaborate.
 
With this year's team of creators spanning dance, interactive design and more, we present an exploration of space and movement at each of our Houses.

Our inaugural edition of ‘Encounters Across Cultures: Seeds of Life’ explored how the Chinese Five Elements are a universal connecting force between people and nature, an idea that moves across cultures – east and west, ancient and modern. The programme paired Swiss artist Katja Loher with local creators to design immersive and evolving installations in each House.