Art of STEM education

News of 2022's marquee headliner began spreading to secondary and tertiary school students, communities and local artists last summer. Actor Zeno Koo was appointed Laila's dedicated outreach ambassador to work with the community on how art and technology can converge.

"By working with young people in secondary schools and universities, we open up the possibilities of opera," Ho notes. "For this generation of gamers and digital natives, what can tech art give them?"

In conjunction with the performance, a raft of ongoing exhibitions, public talks, creative competitions, school tour demonstrations and workshops began in the spring of 2021. Further, an arts education seminar was held last summer to encourage teachers to integrate art tech in schools.

"We framed art as a way to question how STEM education can go forward in Hong Kong," elucidates HKAF senior outreach manager Kenneth Lee. "We explored how this show supports STEM and hosted mentoring sessions on Zoom."

HKAF included 20 secondary schools as part of its Laila tour, with students experiencing 20 minutes of the show firsthand. "We welcomed any interested school - they just needed to apply and were accepted after we checked if they had the facilities to mount this tour," explains Lee.

"Laila is an example of how HKAF works," Ho asserts. "People see HKAF as only about our performances. But around and behind the scenes we do so much more. We intentionally emphasize outreach and education."