Bella Gaia, “Beautiful Earth” Multimedia Arts show on the “poetic vision of earth from space”, took place at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology on October 19th. I’ve been studying with this university for over 1.5 years but I’ve never seen the outdoor amphitheater been used for anything, and always thought it could make for quite a movie experience. At last, someone made use of that wonderful spot, with scenic views of the HKUST outdoors overlooking the Sai Kung peninsula waters on a windy clear day. It was terrific. Kenji Williams, the person behind the initiative, played the violin while stunning NASA videos of earth from space were playing. Kenji said he was hoping for an emotional experience of bonding with earth, rather than just listening to environmental facts, and I believe he delivered. It’s not often that I comment on HKUST events, so you can perhaps sense that this was a somewhat unique experience I believe is worth sharing. Look him up.
The invitation to the event went as follows :
IENV would like to invite you to an outdoor performance of Kenji Williams presents: Bella Gaia – A Poetic Vision of Earth From Space.
A 45-minute performance with a violinist and exclusive NASA footage- all under the stars! Bring your family and friends to this unique event at the HKUST Amphitheater.
BELLA GAIA™ (Beautiful Earth) is an astoundingly moving multimedia presentation – a ‘Living Atlas’ journey of our world, expressing the transformative beauty of planet Earth as seen through the eyes of astronauts by successfully simulating space flight. The live show inspires appreciation for our existence on planet Earth and brings to attention the impact of human activity on the Earth’s life systems.
Collaborating with NASA, BELLA GAIA is a new immersive theater experience, a portal for an audience to develop a deeper connection and empathy with our planet Earth by engaging the right brain. Created by award winning director and classically trained violinist Kenji Williams, BELLA GAIA features a live performance by Kenji with large scale orbiting visualizations of Earth from space.
HKUST made the video of the event available on the UST video center, but in the spirit of sharing things worth sharing, watch the video here :
To get a taste of the wonderful video, here’s a 5 minute sample out of the whole 45+ minutes show.
Other links:
Thanks Kenji for sharing this with us, thanks to Green UST for putting this together for us students in Hong Kong.
One thing I appreciate is that you pay attention to small hints in life and keep an open mind. That’s the way to make life interesting. Right?
Thanks, Nadia. Yeah, I think it’s always good to keep an open mind and try out new experiences. Otherwise, life might get very boring 😛