The eighth edition of MUTEK Forum, the Festival’s professional component and a popular meeting place for artists and companies involved in digital creation, will take place from Tuesday, August 23 to Friday, August 26, 2022. Inside the Agora Hydro-Québec at UQAM's Coeur des sciences, MUTEK will present four days of discussions and events that are sure to be both relevant and accessible, by offering varied rates and programming.

Each day has been organized to optimize participation in a total of more than 30 activities led by over 60 local and international experts. In addition to offering up inspiring content, the Forum will once again serve as a platform for business meetings, with onsite networking activities in Montréal, as well as a virtual market component that provides direct access to a selection of artists and an international network of digital-creation professionals.

MUTEK Forum: Where expertise and exploration in digital art meet
Overview of each day of the program

On Tuesday, August 23, the program will address a variety of the Forum’s recurring, essential topics. Of particular note will be the panel moderated by an American composer and media artist Peter Kirn (CDM) who will discuss the “genrefication” of artificial intelligence while, in collaboration with Culture Montréal, there will be a presentation of best practices for digital creativity clusters from around the world.

Extended reality (XR) will be in the spotlight on Wednesday, August 24 with the 8th edition of the XR Salon. To kick things off, the Canadian Media Fund will present a discussion between producer Ingrid Kopp, the co-founder of South African organization Electric South, and Sandra Rodriguez, a Québec director and producer who is the author of the study Crafting a Market for Independent XR. MUTEK will then unveil the three XR projects in its Immersive Collection, in the presence of the works’ creators, after which point it will give the floor to other organizations that are traditionally digital art presenters but now exploring
content production and distribution. Finally, Greg J. Smith (HOLO) will interview artists Sinjin Hawke and Zora Jones (Fractal Fantasy) who are pushing the creative and technological limits of audiovisual performance.

On Thursday, August 25, the morning will begin with a conversation between Felix Koberstein (ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe) and Véronique Paradis (Society for Arts and Technology) who, each in their own way, explore virtual spaces that facilitate the production, distribution, and mediation of the arts. The ties that bond research, creation, and the industry will then be dissected by experts from renowned local institutions such as Eastern Bloc, SYNTHÈSE – Pôle Image Québec, and Hexagram.

The last day of the Forum will specifically focus on the place of marginalized communities within electronic music, with a presentation by Frankie Decaiza Hutchinson, the co-founder of Discwoman, an agency grounded in representing and promoting female and non-binary talents working as DJs or producers. In addition, one of the panels will explore the “musicverse” and how music is adapting to Web3.

Throughout the week, various workshops will be held in parallel with the main activities that will deal with, for example, the future of festivals, eco-responsibility, intellectual property, and even WebVR.

The following speakers have already been confirmed:
Alicia Turgeon^CA/QC— Eastern Bloc / Anne Le Bouyonnec ^CA/QC— SYNTHÈSE / Athena Yasaman ^US— Catalog / Aurélie Besson ^CA/QC — Molior / Caroline Voyer ^CA/QC — Artistes citoyens en tournée/Conseil québécois des événements écoresponsables / Cat Bluemke ^CA— MacKenzie Art Gallery / Chloe Alexandra Thompson^CA/US / Chloé Gagnon-Champigny ^CA/QC— Artistes citoyens en tournée / Claudine Hubert ^CA/QC— Thinkwell / Cora Novoa ^ES/CAT— SEEKING THE VELVET / David Hurtubise ^CA/QC— UQAC–Centre NAD / Eliane Ellbogen ^CA/QC— Fasken / Élyanne Coursol-Dion ^CA/QC— Voulez-Vous Productions / Éric Desmarais ^CA/QC — Sporobole / Felix Koberstein ^DE — ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe / France Jobin ^CA/QC / Frankie Hutchinson ^UK/US — Discwoman/Dweller / Greg J. Smith ^CA— HOLO / Helen Brunet ^CA/QC— Vestechpro / Hugues Sweeney ^CA/QC— Thinkwell / Inder Phull ^UK/US— PIXELYNX / Ingrid Kopp ^UK/ZA — Electric South / Isabella Salas ^MX/QC— Studio Isabella Salas / Johann Baron Lanteigne ^CA/QC/ José Luis de Vicente^ES— Sónar+D / Julieta Agriano ^AR— AI Biennale (BILIA) / Kiran Bhumber ^IN/CA / Laurent Simon ^CA/QC— Mosaic HEC / Line Katcho ^CA/QC / Lola Baraldi ^FR/QC— MUTEK / Louis-Philippe Rondeau ^CA/QC — UQAC–Centre NAD / Malcolm Levy ^CA— RefractionDAO / Marek Blottiere ^FR/QC — INRS / Markus Heckmann ^DE/CA/ Matthew Edwards ^US— Xhurch School of Ominimedia / Maurice Jones ^DE/QC — MUTEK.JP / Meaghan Wester ^CA/QC— Université Concordia / Mourad Bennacer ^CA/QC— Société des arts technologiques / Nancy Lee ^TW/CA— CURRENT / Nathalie Bachand^CA/QC— Sporobole / Peggy Hogan ^CA/QC— Outside Music/Next Door Records / Peter Kirn ^US/DE— CDM / Renee Dumaresque ^CA— Crip Rave / RythÂ Kesselring ^CA/QC/ Sandra Rodriguez ^CA/QC— Voulez-Vous/Brigands / Sarah Mackenzie^CA/QC / Sinjin Hawke ^CA/QC — Fractal Fantasy / Sofian Audry ^CA/QC — Hexagram/École des médias, UQAM / Véronique Paradis ^CA/QC— Société des arts technologiques / Yan Breuleux ^CA/QC— UQAC–Centre NAD / Zora Jones ^AT/QC— Fractal Fantasy

To explore the programming details for each day

Schedule

To learn more about the speakers

Individual bios

The MUTEK Forum market: the virtual gathering of the global music and digital industries

This year, the market will again be held on a dedicated virtual networking platform and will connect local and international artists with industry professionals from around the world. After a remarkable 2021 edition that brought together more than 550 participants, the market aims to present the most avant-garde projects and initiatives in electronic music and digital art. It helps foster artistic connections and business collaborations through personalized profiles, one-on-one meetings, and networking activities.

For a third year, MUTEK’s programming team has assembled an official 19 Quebec and Canadian artists and artistic projects who will benefit from special training and professional support. This initiative aims to give artists the tools and knowledge they need to develop their careers through workshops, personalized presentation materials, and meetings with international buyers throughout the Festival and Forum.

Official market selection:
Ali Phi ^IR/CA / Aquarian ^CA/DE / Cadie Desbiens-Desmeules ^QC/PT / Chloe Alexandra Thompson ^CA/US / Cosmic JD ^CO/CA / EEJUNGMI ^CA / Edna King ^CA / Handsome Tiger ^CA / Immersive Collection ^CA/QC / Johann Baron Lanteigne ^CA/QC/ Korea Town Acid ^KR/CA / Magnanime ^CA/QC / Marilou Lyonnais Archambault ^CA/QC / Matthew Biederman ^CA/QC / Mue & Katherine Melançon ^CA/QC / Nahash ^FR/QC / Nancy Lee & Kiran Bhumber ^CA / Nicolas Bougaïeff ^CA/DE / T.Gowdy ^CA/DE

For professionals who will be on-site in Montréal, MUTEK will also be offering a series of in-person networking activities as part of the Forum. Some of the international buyers who will be in Montréal include:
Batman Zavareze ^BR一 Multiplicidade Festival / Bogomir Doringer ^NL一 Nxt Museum / Bronne Keesmaat ^NL一 Rewire / Cameron Scott ^CA一 send + receive / Cinthya García Leyva ^MX一 Casa del Lago UNAM / Damian Romero ^MX一 MUTEK.MX / Fiona Haggerty ^UK 一 Cryptic/Sonica / Jakub Pesek ^CZ一 Lunchmeat Festival / Jay Bang ^KR一 Paradise Art Space / Jeanne Charlotte Vogt^DE 一 NODE Forum for Digital Arts / Kris Voveris ^LT/CA一 New Forms Media Society / Lalin Akalan ^TR一 Digi.logue /Sonar+D / Marc Jacobs ^BE 一 Europalia / Midori Hayakawa ^JP一 MUTEK.JP / Naomi Johnson ^CA一 ImagineNATIVE Film/Media Arts Festival / Philipp Grefer ^DE一 WISE / Seung Hyun Kim ^KR一 PRECTXE

Accessible ticket offers sure to stimulate encounters

This year, to celebrate the return of in-person activities, MUTEK has put together several exceptional tickets offers that allow artists and industry professionals to enjoy daytime content and networking events at very reasonable prices.

Three types of packages are available:

The Forum Passport covers the entire program at the presale rate of CAD 60
(instead of CAD 90).
The daily Forum Pass allows visitors to attend a day of activities of their choice at
the presale rate of CAD 20 (instead of CAD 30).
The Virtual Market Passport grants access to the online platform and to a network
of more than 500 international contacts from August 9 at the presale price of CAD 15
(instead of CAD 25). This passport is included in the two previous passes.

To learn more about the advantages of each option:

Box Office

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 production of the Forum.

The Government of Québec, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the ministère du Tourisme du Québec, the Secrétariat à la région métropolitaine du gouvernement 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, Tourisme Montréal, Air Canada for Business, TD Bank Group, SYNTHÈSE - Pôle Image Québec and the Canada Media Fund.