The 19th edition of MUTEK, Montréal’s infamous international festival of digital creativity and electronic music, runs August 22 to 26 in various venues in the heart of Montréal.
Featuring over 150 artists working at the vanguard of music and art that intersects with technology, the festival always underlines live performance, mind blowing audiovisual works and a myriad of other discoveries. This edition adds another focus—women in digital arts and electronic music.
Check out the full lineup here.
Festival breakdown
· Featuring 120 different performances with artists from 27 countries, and with the performance program achieving gender parity for the first time, this edition counts as the largest and richest in MUTEK history
· 20 Canadian, 18 North American and 16 world premieres: for a record breaking number of 52 never-before-seen performances
· Half of the performances come from a deep pool of Canadian and Québec-based artists, underlining the festival’s commitment to positioning the local in an international context
· The free experimental PLAY program at Studio Hydro-Québec is a laboratory of audiovisual, noise and new forms, mixing local and international artists
· There are 2 free outdoor stages this year which also emphasize local, national and global names: the Expérience series on the Esplanade of the Place des Arts from Wednesday to Saturday, and Hors Circuit event presented by Red Bull Music which takes MUTEK north to Le Virage in Outremont
· From the MUTEK network of MUTEKs, artists from from Mexico, Barcelona, Buenos Aires and Japan are performing
· The free 2-day Keychange :: Amplify symposium features an illustrious selection of speakers on a range of topics concerned with empowering women in digital arts and electronic music
Performance highlights
· Opening night August 22 kicks off a sonic travelogue of global rhythm sciences with Equiknoxx, Clap! Clap! and DJ Lag at the SAT
· Friday night’s epic techno soiree features Dasha Rush again at the helm, this time with Lars Hemmerling as LADA at the MTÉLUS
· An array of electronic music’s current crop of hotly tipped artists perform at the SAT: JASSS, Lanark Artefax, Errorsmith, Pye Corner Audio and Machine Woman among them
· Acclaimed Chicago artist Honey Dijon takes the coveted Saturday all-nighter DJ spot running until 6am, preceded by live sets from Kenny Larkin and Chloé
· The A/Visions series boasts a laser concerto from Robin Fox and the latest audiovisual odyssey from Herman Kolgen developed at French particle accelerator GANIL; a world premiere from Russian A/V wizards Tundra, and the North American premiere of Messier and YRO’s ASHES
· Resident Advisor present a showcase on Thursday dedicated to experimental composition with Caterina Barbieri, Electric Indigo and Lawrence English
· The free Play series features a world premiere from Push 1 stop & Wiklow on Wednesday, Myriam Bleau & Laturbo Avedon on Thursday, Sabrina Ratté on Friday, and live coding algoravers Algobabez on Saturday
· Closing night comes in for a landing Sunday, in both the main room and dome of the SAT operating in parallel, with recommended sets from Acid Pauli, Moomin and Steevio & Suzybee
The Keychange :: Amplify: Symposium
At the heart of this edition MUTEK highlights women in digital arts and electronic music in both the regular performance program and during a free 2-day symposium taking place August 21 and 22 at the Monument-National. Inspired by its membership as one of the core festivals in the PRS Foundation led Keychange initiative, and with the intersection and support of the British Council’s Amplify project, the festival connects women creators and innovators from Canada, the UK, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela and the EU under the umbrella: Keychange :: Amplify.
Symposium
Keynotes, panels, presentations and networking activities—provocative and practical content, the Keychange :: Amplify Symposium and related activities throughout the rest of the week, aim to enliven the conversation, embolden creators and affect real change in the milieu. Discursive activities on August 21 & 22, will be streamed and recorded. The schedule of events and speakers is available here.
Keynotes
20 Years of female:pressure with Electric Indigo
Sonic (Cyber)feminisms: Strategies, Contestations and Possibilities with Marie Thompson
An Avatar Is Born with Skawennati
What Does Field Transformation Sound Like? Mapping Feminist Movement in Electronic Music & Sound Cultures with Tara Rodgers
Panels:
Hot Buttons: On Quotas, Biology, the Meritocracy and More
Breaking the Binary: Sound/Noise, Wanted/Unwanted, Masculine/Feminine
(Re-en)gendering the Arts & Industry: Institutional Action
Signature Visions: Art, Tech & Soul
Beyond the Why: A Diversity in Curation How-To
Gathering The Momentum: Possible Futures
Artists participating in the Keychange :: Amplify performance program are here.
