Meeting of Gods Festival: Reimagining Theatre in the AI Era

Description

Across seven days, the Meeting of Gods Festival and Danny Yung Young Artists Academy 2026 unite artists from across the globe — from Phnom Penh, Seoul and Stockholm to Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong — to reimagine theatre as ritual, dialogue and live encounter. Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture and the 20th anniversary of HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity, co-artistic director of Zuni Icosahedron Danny Yung questions the future of theatre in the age of artificial intelligence.

Moving beyond the idea of simply crossing cultures, the festival foregrounds processes of observation, exchange and response, where body, voice and cultural memory become shared materials. The programme spans seven new works by directors and artists working across theatre, film, sound, choreography and installation — from Yung’s ritual-inflected theatre and Edward Lam’s cinematic adaptation, to Susie Au and Xie Shu’s spatial inquiry, Steve Hui’s sonic experimentation and Olivier Cong’s movement-based compositions.

Together, these distinct practices map a theatre that is no longer medium-specific, but porous and evolving. Framed by forums on interculturalism and arts education, the festival positions theatre not as a fixed form, but as an ongoing method of thinking, making and gathering in real time. Performances on 4 and 5 July begin at 16:00, while those from 6 to 11 July start at 20:00.

From 5 to 8 July, the One Table Two Chairs forums bring together artists across disciplines and regions. Hosted by Singaporean intercultural theatre director Liu Xiaoyi and curated by research assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Melody Yiu, the sessions probe questions of arts education, festival-making and the complexities of intercultural exchange.