creative technology conference mutek forum montreal

MUTEK is more than a festival; it is also a major professional event that brings together artists, digital experts, researchers, and cultural practitioners under the MUTEK Forum banner. This year’s Forum will feature over 45 activities led by 100 speakers from August 20 to 22 in Montréal, Canada.

The following was created in collaboration with MUTEK.

This year’s edition of MUTEK Forum unfolds under the theme Radical Rituals—a call to explore how artistic and technological practices can serve as tools for resilience, meaning-making, and systemic change. In a rapidly shifting world, rituals help us navigate complexity and imagine more inclusive futures.

The Forum is structured across three distinct days—Storytelling (August 20), Technology (August 21), and Practices (August 22)—each offering a lens into the evolving rituals of digital creation.

What can you expect from this three-day program?

Talks, performances, workshops, and networking opportunities that explore the intersections of music, artificial intelligence (AI), extended reality (XR), media arts, video games, ecology, quantum art, and design.

Photos credits (from top to bottom, left to right): Cristóbal Tapia de Veer © Pierre Barlier, Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley © Laura Schaeffer, Libby Heaney © Andrea Rossetti, McKenzie Wark, Madame Gandhi © Lindsey Byrnes, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer

Day 1 | Expanding Realities: Immersive Media and Storytelling, presented by the Canada Media Fund (CMF) | Wednesday, August 20

Discover new ways of telling stories through technology with live performances, engaging talks, and hands-on workshops. Highlights include a live AI poetry reading by Sasha Stiles, an interactive performance by Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, and the launch of the Village Numérique digital art showcase in the Quartier des Spectacles.

The talk show What’s Next in Immersive?, hosted by Myriam Achard (PHI), gathers voices shaping the future of immersive media—including curator Ana Brzezińska, Marc Barto (V&A), and artist Bianca Shonee Arroyo-Kreimes.

The day concludes with a public exhibition of the MUTEK AI Ecologies Lab, a new interdisciplinary residency that explores sustainability and justice in the cultural uses of AI, presented in collaboration with the Society for Art and Technology, Milieux, Applied AI, and Abundant Intelligences.

Meet artists and professionals across music, visual design, and digital media—Day 1 opens the Forum with new perspectives on how stories are shaped, shared, and experienced today.

Day 2 | Future Interfaces: Technology | Thursday, August 21

Explore how quantum theory, AI, and video games are reshaping artistic creation. Day 2 features an inspiring talk by Libby Heaney on quantum art, the debut of Benny, an open-source music software by James Holden, and an immersive performance by Suzanne Kite.

Discover Rencontres Algorithmiques (presented by Milieux Institute, Applied AI Institute, and the Hexagram Network), an exhibition questioning our relationship with AI, and interactive game-based projects, including Indigenous-led creations by Kahentawaks Tiewshaw and Vanessa Racine. Join workshops with Lexis, machìna, and Nicola Cruz.

It also hosts MUTEK Match, the Forum’s flagship networking event at OASIS Immersion, where over 80 local and international professionals connect through curated one-on-one meetings, a performative lecture by Suzanne Kite (presented by ISO), and a networking cocktail, in collaboration with Xn Québec.

Day 2 is an invitation to connect with artists and professionals exploring new ways to create, share, and imagine narratives.

Day 3 | Ethical Futures: Practices | Friday, August 22

Explore how artists and thinkers are envisioning more sustainable and inclusive approaches to digital creation. Attend a conversation with Madame Gandhi on music and climate justice, explore queer rave culture with McKenzie Wark, and try out new musical technologies in the interactive Ableton Spaces environment.

Key panels explore diversity, governance, and ownership in music and AI, while Ash Fure leads an immersive masterclass on the physicality of sound. Don’t miss composer Cristóbal Tapia de Veer (The White Lotus) in conversation, along with other artists who are redefining sound creation. Also take part in the Computational Witchcraft Sleepover, a queer-feminist ritual that blends games, digital altars, and collective storytelling!

Day 3 is a moment to learn, connect, and be inspired by emerging visions for a more responsible and creative future.