From August 25 to 30, 2026, MUTEK returns for its 27th edition under the theme Symbiotic Frequencies. True to its mission of fostering dialogue between technological innovation and artistic experimentation, the festival presents a program featuring nearly 120 artists from 28 countries. Through performances, Forum discussions, and Village numérique installations, projects led by members of the Hexagram Network highlight the vitality of research-creation taking place in Quebec universities.
Village numérique: A Showcase for Emerging Researchers
Running alongside the festival, the Village numérique transforms Montreal’s Quartier des spectacles into a free digital arts trail from August 20 to September 3. Several featured works stem from research-creation collaborations between faculty members and students.
One example is Fossilation, an installation that continues its journey after being presented at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris as part of the exhibition Oscillation. Suspended in the entrance hall of the SAT, a translucent bioplastic membrane is connected to the building’s architecture through a network of sensor-equipped cables. The work emerged from a research-creation project led jointly by teams from Concordia University, the École des Arts Décoratifs—PSL, and the University of Toronto Mississauga. The project is co-led by Alice Jarry, co-investigator member, Samuel Bianchini, collaborating member, and Marie-Pier Boucher, collaborating member. This international collaboration also mobilizes a dozen student researchers who have actively contributed to the development and experimentation of the installation.
The Village numérique also highlights interdisciplinary creation through Corps en fête. Under the artistic direction of Caroline Laurin-Beaucage, a collaborator at UQAM, and Chélanie Beaudin-Quintin, a student member, this installation brings together four digital works created by students from UQAM’s Department of Dance. Projected onto the façade of the Président-Kennedy Pavilion, they explore the intersections of movement, image, and public space while providing visibility to a new generation of creators.
Une performance qui explore de nouvA Performance Exploring New Relationships with the Living Worldelles relations au vivant
Among this year’s world premieres is Trees Communicate with Each Other at 220 Hertz by Nelly-Eve Rajotte, a collaborating member from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). In this immersive audiovisual performance, presented live for the first time, the artist combines moving images, generative sound, and biosensitive technologies to create a landscape inspired by boreal ecosystems. By connecting a modular synthesizer to a living tree, she develops an environment where the boundaries between humans, technology, and nature become porous. The work invites reflection on forms of communication among living beings and on the listening possibilities offered by contemporary technologies.
The creative process behind Trees Communicate with Each Other at 220 Hertz was presented during a roundtable discussion at the 2024 Interdisciplinary Encounters.
The MUTEK Forum: A Space for Reflection on Research-Creation
Over three days, from August 26 to 28, 2026, the MUTEK Forum brings together artists, researchers, and professionals to explore the transformations shaping digital creativity. During the first day, dedicated to expanding narratives and realities, Navid Navab, media artist and doctoral member at Concordia University, will share his perspective on emerging narrative forms born from relationships between bodies, technologies, and environments. Internationally recognized for his work at the intersection of art, science, and engineering, he is the recipient of the Golden Nica at the Ars Electronica Prize 2026 in the Digital Musics category.
Navid Navab’s research was featured at the 2023 Gala.
The second day, focused on technologies and interfaces of the future, highlights several members of the Hexagram community. Jackson 2bears, a member of the Abundant Intelligences research team, will present Land-Based AI Ecologies, a lecture that addresses issues of data sovereignty, community governance, and reciprocity through Indigenous perspectives on artificial intelligence. The presentation will be followed by a discussion with Ceyda Yolgörmez, a student member at Concordia University and participant in the same research project.
The Machine Agencies research group, led by co-investigators Fenwick McKelvey and Bart Simon, will take over the Wilder Building—Espace Danse to unveil The Monolith, a speculative social game and interactive experience that questions our relationship with artificial intelligence. The project is the result of a four-month residency at the Milieux Institute at Concordia University. The game explores emerging relationships between humans, technologies, and digital systems by envisioning human-machine interaction as a space for social experimentation and critical reflection.
For the third consecutive year, Machine Agencies is participating in the MUTEK Forum.
Biosignals and their applications in digital arts will also be among the highlights of the day. A roundtable organized by the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT) will bring together Karim Jerbi from the Université de Montréal, Jacqueline Beaumont, a student member at Concordia, and former member and artist Erin Gee. Participants will examine the creative potential and limitations of biometric technologies in contemporary artistic contexts.
The third day, dedicated to ecologies of listening, will continue this exploration of sound technologies and immersive experiences. Among the invited speakers is Myriam Boucher, professor and collaborating member at the Université de Montréal, who will take part in the discussion Sonic States alongside international specialists in immersive audio environments.
A Presence Reflecting the Diversity of Practices
From immersive performances and discussions on artificial intelligence to urban installations and interdisciplinary projects, MUTEK 2026 demonstrates the breadth of fields explored by the Hexagram Network. Their presence illustrates the importance of exchanges among academic research, technological innovation, and artistic creation in the development of contemporary digital cultures. Through their contributions, the richness of an entire research-creation ecosystem comes into view, one in which experiments conducted in laboratories, studios, and classrooms resonate with the Montréal and international audiences brought together by MUTEK.
