Ars Electronica Futurelab participated in the opening of Shanghai eARTS Festival on the 19th of October 07 with an innovative fusion of traditional Chinese Kun Opera and current media art techniques.

The new staging concept translates the 500 year old musical, lyrical and choreographic composition of the “Interrupted Dream” – a part of the well known Kun Opera “Peony Pavilion” - into a three-dimensional media experience.

The augmented version of “The Interrupted Dream” stages a three-dimensional virtual world of visual imagery coordinated to the tonal soundscapes being produced in the concert hall.
The actors, captured live on stage, are integral parts of the projected visualization. Their representations in the 3-D space are generated by musical impulses creating the framework for a narrative structure coupled with different means of expression: voice, gesture and acting.

“Peony Pavilion - Interrupted Dream” by Ars Electronica Futurelab commissioned by eArts Festival Shanghai and Shanghai Cultural Development Foundation.


In cooperation with Kunqu Opera Troupe
Artists: Zhang Jun and Yuan Jia
performed at Oriental Art Center Shanghai