MUTEK Expands Its Hybrid Edition Over Two Weeks in 2021

MUTEK announces an extension of its duration and will take place from Tuesday, August 24 to Sunday, September 5, 2021, in Montréal and on its online platform, virtual.mutek.org. Generous and unifying, the hybrid programming of the 22nd edition of its Festival and the 7th edition of its professional component, MUTEK Forum, will bring together 200 artists and speakers from the digital creation field and will offer nearly 100 works and activities.

While we will have to navigate the next few months according to the evolution of the situation and health regulations, one thing is for sure: the Festival intends to offer Montrealers the pleasure of experimenting with digital creation and will meet its audiences in the physicality of a shared moment. As for the Forum, its programming—open to the international market—is developed between its in-venue and online components in a complementary way. With this 2021 edition, MUTEK continues to mesh art and ideas, wonder and awakening, as well as presential and virtual, allowing for a dialogue with its communities made up of festival-goers, artists and experts from Montréal, Canada and beyond.

The Festival has always maintained a trailblazing and exploratory approach by promoting emerging and innovative talents from artistic communities in Québec and Canada. It is more important now than ever to create a showcase for creators to pursue their passion and let their vision shine. The 2021 MUTEK programming will feature about 60 live performances of digital art and electronic music, intertwining in-venue shows at the Quartier des spectacles with a free virtual component via the virtual.mutek.org platform. The box office will launch next month once the details of the various Montréal performances are revealed.

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MUTEK Forum will be held during the week, from Tuesday, August 24 to Thursday, September 2, on both an online platform and live from the creative hub Zù—which gathers, helps and promotes projects combining entertainment and innovation. This market for ideas aims to bring together artists and companies in digital creativity and electronic music, with the goal of exploring the latest artistic practices while stimulating reflection on the ethical and political issues related to technology and the digital world. Artificial intelligence, extended reality (XR), immersive creation and crypto art are among the many themes that will be explored by around 100 speakers through some 30 activities, presented in collaboration with Hexagram UQAM, Québec/Canada XR, the editorial and curatorial platform HOLO and many key partners. The program will also host the next phase of The Montréal/Miami New Narratives Lab, organized with FilmGate Miami, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and O Cinema, as well as new artists, curators and innovators as part of the Keychange project and the AMPLIFY D.A.I initiative, developed by the British Council in partnership with MUTEK and Somerset House Studios.

For a second consecutive year, the Forum will also feature a virtual market that facilitates networking by showcasing Québec, Canadian and international artists to buyers from around the world. Last year, more than 750 participants, including over 200 distributors, representing 400 different organizations and companies from over 50 countries, gathered on the online platform to attend conferences, panels and workshops, and to develop artistic connections and business opportunities.

The first elements of the professional activities programming, as well as the selection for the market, will be unveiled in mid-June, but it is already possible to purchase three types of MUTEK Forum passports at a preferential rate (starting from $20). Details on the advantages and rates can be found on the website.

MUTEK would like to thank its partners, who play a key role in the maintenance and development of its activities, and have provided particular support towards the development of the Festival and the Forum in a hybrid format.

The Government of Québec, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Secrétariat à la région métropolitaine du gouvernement du Québec, the ministère du Tourisme du Québec, the ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts de Montréal, the City of Montréal, FACTOR and Canada's private radio broadcasters, the Department of Canadian Heritage, Musicaction, the Consulat général de France à Québec, the British Council, Tourisme Montréal, the National Film Board of Canada, FilmGate Miami, O Cinema, HOLO, Hexagram UQAM, Québec/Canada XR and Red Bull.