Project Butterfly

Like the flutter of a butterfly’s wings that can change the world, the Butterfly Project was created to retrace each stage of opera production and experiment with environmentally sustainable practices.
Based on the idea that sustainability means preserving resources for future generations, the initiative invited students to be the driving creative force behind the artistic process and to reflect on sustainability. Sixteen-year-old students from high schools in Helsinki, Gdańsk, and Modena wrote the concepts for the three one-act operas, sharing and refining their ideas through online meetings. The opera premiered in all three cities in spring 2025.
A key scenic element was the digital imagery designed by Heimspiel, an agency in Augsburg specialized in Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence. The project also adopted a CO₂ measurement tool developed by the UK-based sustainability leader for the cultural sector, Julie’s Bicycle (The Creative Climate Tools). Musical rehearsals were held remotely using the low-latency system Lo.La, while audiences interacted with a real-time AI-powered avatar specially developed by the German start-up Conversational Artificial Intelligence.