Hong Kong Design Centre, in collaboration with local new media artist Henry Chu, presents Piano in the Woods: Three Dialogues of the Four Seasons — a new immersive interactive exhibition. Supported by the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) as lead sponsor and Art-Partners as creative partner, the exhibition blends art-tech and music, inviting visitors to converse with the forest. Through real-time visual imagery and soundscapes, piano notes bridge technology and nature across the changing seasons — immersing every visitor in a deeply multi-sensory experience.

Structured around the concept of Ecology, Geography and Humanity, the exhibition guides visitors through three dialogues — Asking Ecology, Asking Geography, and Asking Humanity — across the four seasons. By pressing virtual piano keys, visitors pose questions to the forest; the forest responds through real-time generated imagery and music. Pine needles layered on the ground evoke the forest's texture and scent, engaging sight, sound, touch and smell in a truly multi-sensory environment.

The exhibition features piano compositions by Lewis Chung, paired with seasonal visuals and immersive soundscapes. Each keystroke prompts a unique response from the virtual forest — spring's blossoming energy and shifting weather from New Zealand, summer's transformation of urban sounds into nature's echoes in Hong Kong, autumn's rebirth of plant forms and expressive calligraphy from Austria, and the serene stillness of winter in Yakushima. Visitors may enter and exit freely, experiencing one or more dialogues, or pausing during rapid replay intervals. Each visit is entirely unique.

"With Piano in the Woods: Three Dialogues of the Four Seasons, we hope to invite visitors to experience the cycle of time and the harmony of life through the interplay of technology and art, embodied in the dialogue between piano and forest. We want nature to respond to our innermost questions through evocative sounds and visuals."

Henry Chu, Creator and New Media Artist

Henry Chu is a Hong Kong-based designer, programmer, and digital artist. He graduated from the Electrical and Computer Engineering programme at the University of Auckland, and founded pill & pillow in 2004. The independent studio has won more than 200 local and international awards, including recognition at the Cannes Lions, Webby, and One Show. His art, which harnesses data and music, has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2011), M+ Museum, Hong Kong (2020), and the Hong Kong Museum of Art (2022–2023). Henry Chu will also present new works at the Ora-Ora gallery at Art Basel Hong Kong this March 2026.

Piano in the Woods is supported by the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) as lead sponsor, and Art-Partners as creative partner. CCIDA is a dedicated office under the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the HKSAR Government, committed to fostering a conducive environment for the arts, culture and creative sectors.