Drawing on material, embodied, and situated methods, research-creation fosters a fruitful dialogue between arts, cultures, and technologies. Through the contributions of human and more-than-human actors, as well as the inter- and trans- disciplinary meshing it encourages, this set of polyvocal practices mobilizes diverse forms of knowledge that help us better understand, anticipate, and imagine responses to multiple crises.
First, a crisis of the commons, which affects the sense of belonging between individuals, their communities, and their environments. A crisis of the sharing economy, which challenges our ability to connect equitably with our cultural and natural heritage. A crisis of critical thinking, which tends to idealize solutionist approaches to technology. And a crisis of ecologies that urges us to renew our imaginaries and redefine the meaning we give to the ties that unite us.
Hexagram Network’s collaborative research-creation approach brings these contemporary challenges into focus. Through cooperation among researchers, collaborators, and students, the 2026 Interdisciplinary Encounters contribute to science by and for the commons. It is in this spirit that we open the fourth edition of our biennial gathering.
Under the theme Commonalities, the series of activities will present cutting-edge research-creation practices emerging from Quebec’s academic communities. From April 13 to June 12, 2026, the programming will unfold in an exceptionally rich, varied, and vibrant way.
To develop this extended symposium, the Network mobilized its core contributors into five working groups referred to as “Chantiers,” each dedicated to a thematic area:
Chantier AI
Chantier Cartography
Chantier Ecotechnologies
Chantier Performa
Chantier XR/Games
This approach expands our reach and reinforces the Network’s presence beyond the metropolitan area. It also diversifies avenues for research-creation by building new collaborations and generating novel shared knowledge.
We invite you to explore the program of conferences, exhibitions, performances, roundtables, and workshops that will activate our spring.
The Hexagram Network thanks the Fonds de recherche du Québec for its support, as well as its partner institutions: Université du Québec à Montréal, Concordia University, École de technologie supérieure, McGill University, Université de Montréal, Université Laval, the NAD School of Digital Arts, Animation and Design at Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, and Université du Québec en Abitibi‑Témiscamingue.
