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Québec and MUTEK
are partnering to present “This is Québec in Tokyo,” a showcase for our
homegrown creativity that will be held in Japan’s capital city from December 11
to 13, 2019 as part of an initiative by the government of Québec. The event
will take place in conjunction with the 4th edition of the MUTEK.JP festival, which runs till
December 15.
Hikarie
Hall in the city of Shibuya – Tokyo’s business and technology hub – is where more
than 30 companies
from Québec will present their digital creativity expertise to a large pool of
buyers from Japan and delegations from China and South Korea.
Québec Minister of
Economy and Innovation Pierre Fitzgibbon, who will be in the region on a
prospecting and investment mission, will be in attendance at the launch of the
event on Wednesday, December 11 along with David Brulotte, Delegate General of
Québec in Tokyo, and Ken Hasebe, Mayor of Shibuya.
The event features
an immersive showcase, which was developed under director Brigitte
Poupart’s guidance. It includes a dozen interactive installations and music
performances by leading Québec artists and companies. This immersive experience
is more than a platform for Québec’s outstanding know-how: it provides a
creative and inspiring setting for the multiple networking opportunities open
to all professionals in attendance, including personalized business meetings
set up by Export Québec and the province’s General Delegation in Tokyo.
In
an effort to foster dialogue, two days of presentations – covering four topics
– have also been planned. The morning of Thursday, December 12 will be devoted
to the future of
entertainment and feature a series of discussions and conversations
involving leading players in Québec, such as Moment Factory, Pixmob, Float4,
and Envision Management along with their Japanese counterparts,
including Rhizomatiks, KDDI, and Hiroaki Umeda, and B.Park from China. The
first public presentation on NOVA, the new collaboration between Japanese
percussion troupe KODO and Robert Lepage, will bring this first session to a
close.
In the afternoon,
the focus will shift to digital art with a presentation on original art
practices and discussions among programming professionals and cultural
organizations on topics of current interest, such as the link between
creativity and artificial intelligence. Participants from Québec will include
artists Sabrina Ratté, Matthew Biederman, and Vincent Morisset and the
directors of the Elektra and MUTEK festivals and the Zú innovation hub, along
with Japanese artists Akiko Nakayama and Takashi Ikegami, representatives from
the Japan Foundation and Keio University, CDM.link and South Korean art
centres, Nabi and B39.
First up for
consideration on Friday, December 13 will be the topic of immersive and
interactive environments, with a focus on innovation in the fields of XR,
domes, and spatial audio. Participants from Québec include cultural experts
from the Phi Centre and the Society for Arts and Technology and representatives
from the following companies: Audio Z, Normal Studio, Halo Création, and
MASSIVart. Japanese know-how will be represented by participants from Sony
Computer Science Laboratories, Yamaha, Square Enix, and Miraikan (National
Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation).
The fourth and final session, on creativity and innovation in the city of the future, will begin with presentations from the City of Montréal and Shibuya Mirai Design. These will be followed by a presentation of best practices in the field of urban digital creativity as exemplified by the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership, HUB Studio, and MAPP MTL. In closing, Montréal International and Investissement Québec International will present the benefits of investing in Québec’s business and culture hubs.
In addition to the
daytime activities planned as part of This is Québec, several innovative Québec
artists will be showcased, particularly as part of the MUTEK.JP festival thanks to
support from Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. Planned events include music
and audiovisual performances by Alexis Langevin-Tétrault, Falaises, Line
Katcho, Myriam Bleau, Push 1 stop & Wiklow, and RAMZi as well as an
unprecedented collaboration between Cadie Desbiens-Desmeules (Push 1 stop) and
Tetsuji Ohno (Intercity-Express) as part of a new joint performance titled
INFLUENCED.
Finally, the Chromosphere
exhibition presented by UltraSuperNew Gallery, in collaboration with
Chromatic, MASSIVart, FRAMED and MUTEK.JP, will feature both analogue and
digital videos by Sabrina Ratté and Yoshi Sodeoka from December 1 to 12. Find
out more.
Here is the program for This is Québec along a list of
Québec participants.
