Artists and companies in the digital creation and electronic music are invited to come together around a reflection fuelled by the 60 activities of the Forum and the virtual market
This second announcement in connection with the 7th edition of its Forum, taking place from August 24 to September 2,allowsMUTEK to unveil a new wave of illustrious speakers and experts as well as several inspiring topics for the professional component of the Festival. To the themes announced previously —extended reality (XR) andstorytelling, artificial intelligence (AI),the challenges of the music industry and innovative digital and audiovisual creation — there are also futuristic visions of fashion andart, new models of presentation and monetization of digital art and online music as well as critical reflections on our relationship to technology. In addition, the official selection of the Forum’s virtual market are also unveiled, as is a first round of networking activities.
Fashion and the art of tomorrow
Diving into the tactile component of textiles, this edition will allowing to tell stories, stimulate interaction and participation and prototype possible futures. Thus, the Forum will offer an exclusive overview of the exciting work of Montreal designer and researcher at UQAM Ying Gao. MUTEK also partners withEastern Bloc to present a panel on bold alliances between textiles, electronics and biotechnology. explore fashion as a medium
Another highlight of this program will be the conversation bringing together bionic pop artist and creative director Viktoria Modesta,whose multidisciplinary practice is fueled by continuous exploration personal, creative and technological boundaries, and American writer and editor David Hershkovits,co-founder of influential Paper magazine and host of the Podcast Light Culture.
Anouk Wipprecht EN/US David Hershkovits US — Cultural Content Consultancy Jacqueline Beaumont CA/QC — Concordia University Joanna Berzowska CA/QC — Concordia University Miranda Smitheram NZ/QC — Concordia University Viktoria Modesta UK/US WhiteFeather Hunter like — SymbioticA / The University of Western Australia Ying Gao CA/QC — Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
New presentation and monetization templates
The pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated the development of new formats to present art online. Creators have been able to reach their audiences through a multitude of independent platforms designed by festivals and galleries, including virtual.mutek.org, and countless live transmissions on Twitch and social media, and even to invest virtual communities like Fortnite. In collaboration with the MacKenzie Art Gallery,MUTEK Forum invites the audience to explore this phenomenon with the participation of Canadian curators Sarah Friend, Cat Bluemke and Jonathan Carroll who created Ender Gallery, an exhibition space and artist residency existing inside the minecraftgame.
The last few months have also witnessed experiments with new monetization models for digital content and blockchain technology, a topic that MUTEK has addressed in previous editions of the Forum and that has caught the attention of the artistic and creative industries with the rise of non-fungible tokens (NFT). The Forum will bring together renowned experts, such as Michael Casey,Director of Content at CoinDesk and Senior Advisor to the MIT Media Lab’s Digital Currencies Initiative, to highlight the potential impact of blockchain and other disruptive technologies on our markets and societies.
Cat Bluemke CA — Ender Gallery Elena Zavalev US — CADAF Eliane Elbows CA/QC — Fasken Jonathan Carroll like — Ender Gallery Huidi Xiang CN/US Michael Casey US — CoinDesk Sarah Friend CA/DE — Ender Gallery
Digital Detox
Reinforcing the Forum’s potential as a catalyst for critical reflections on our relationship to technology, MUTEK will launch a new public education and exhibition project, Digital Detox,with the support of the City of Montreal and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Focusing on issues such as digital well-being, data collection and the ecological impacts of technologies,oneof the central activities will be presented by the German collectiveTactical Tech, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut.
Katja Melzer CA/QC — Goethe-Institut Montréal Louise Hisayasu of — Tactical Tech Muhammad Radwan of — Tactical Tech Qianqian Ye CN/US — Processing Foundation
Safa Ghnaim US/DE — Tactical Tech Xiaowei Wang US — Logic Magazine
Activities and additional speakers
As part of the 7th edition of the XR Salon du Forum, the French producer and distributor Antoine Cayrol, ofAtlas V,and the producer, distributor and director Chinese Sandbox Immersive Festival,Eddie Lou, will join the discussion on XR distribution, while Ryan Howard of Google and Tina Blakeney of Thinkwell Studio Montreal will unveil their new collaboration, aimed at rethinking the journey of visitors during physical experiences. Another special programme is devoted to L’INFINI,the recentStudio PHI and Felix &Paul Studios,currently presented in Montreal, which combines the original VR content of the International Space Station with a unique vision to lead and monetize large-scale immersive exhibitions.
Alyass S,leader of the Global AI Narratives project at the University of Cambridge, will be joined by Takashi Ikegami, artificiallife researcher at the University of Tokyo, Lucas LaRochelle, Montreal-based artist, and Nedine Moonsamy, African author and science fiction expert, for a joint exploration of the alternative imaginaries of AI. In a conversation co-presented by Ars Electronica,Japanese sound artist Yuri Suzuki,Mexican-Canadian interdisciplinary artist and producer Isabella Salas, and Maya digital culture researcher and author Indira Ganesh will critically examine the issue of autonomy and human intent in the creative application of AI. In addition, creative coder and experimental poet Sarah Ciston and audio artistl Noah Pred will present practical approaches to algorithmic co-creation.
Finally, several Q&A sessions with artists taking part in the Festival were confirmed, notably with Barney Steel,of Marshmallow Laser Feast,whose latestcreation,Evolver-Prologue, is co-produced with Atlas V, Orange, Pressman Film and Terrence Malick; Memo Akten,a Turkish artist and computer scientist whose eclectic practice includes artificial intelligence, fundamental physics and religion; and Sabrina Ratté,a digital artist based in Montreal and Marseille who was nominated for canada’s prestigious Sobey Prize for the Arts in 2019 and 2020. From the Festival’s performative programming, we can mention Canadian multi-instrumentalist Yu Su,French-Tunisian artist Deena Abdelwahed,Polishcomposer Joanna Duda,member of theKeychange cohort, and Montrealers Pierre-Luc Lecours, Ida Toninato and Alex Tibbitts,who recentlybenefited from the Avatar-MUTEK production residency.
Finally, the editorial and curatorial collective HOLO returns to the Forum with a new experimental broadcast format, the MUTEK Recorder,led by writer and musician Claire L. Evans who will analyze and synthesize the main reflections of the Forum at the end of each day. By further developing the theme of creative knowledge mobilization, each daily intervention will feature a guest artist or expert, who will share their perspective on how they conduct research in their practice.
Virtual market and networking activities
For this second year in hybrid format, MUTEK Forum is delighted to develop the activities of its virtual market aimed at connecting Quebec, Canadian and international artists with creative companies, festivals, curators, promoters as well as cultural organizations and institutions. The marketplace is an opportunity for participants to stand out, explore the latest digital artistic practices and engage in inspiring conversations with their peers. More than a hundred companies and organizations from 38 countries have already confirmed their participation.
This edition will mark the beginning of a new collaboration with Air Canada for business as a ProgramPartner, which will present the official selection of the programming team: 20 Quebec artists· e·s and Canadians embodying the avant-garde of the national artistic community. These artists will benefit from training and presentation support and will be offered one-on-one meetings with international buyers throughout the Forum.
Official Market Selection – presented by Air Canada for Business
Alex Tibbitts US/QC Brad Todd CA/QC Ciel CN/QC Cinzia Campolese IT/QC France Jobin CA/QC
Golpesar CA/QC Jeremy Rotsztain CA/US Jonathan Kawchuk CA/QC Lucas Paris CA/QC
Martin Bootyspoon CA/QC Matthew Cardinal CA Myriam Bleau CA/QC Myriam Boucher CA/QC
Olivia Mc Gilchrist FR/JA/QC Phèdre CA Pierre-Luc Lecours CA/QC Stéphanie Castonguay CA/QC
Thisquietarmy CA/QC Woulg CA/QC Xuan Ye CN/CA
In addition to local and national artists, a selection of 50 innovative projects in digital creativity and electronic music, carefully chosen by current and past partners of the Forum, will be presented. The virtual marketplace also offers a series of thematic roundtables, providing a unique opportunity for networking and exchanges, in a privileged and interactive context, with forum speakers, industry experts and other participants.
