From August 20 to 22, Montréal will be immersed in digital realms as MUTEK Forum returns for its 11th edition. A key pillar of the internationally acclaimed MUTEK Festival, the Forum brings together over 100 creators, technologists, and thought leaders to share knowledge and envision new connections within digital culture—bridging music, artificial intelligence (AI), extended reality (XR), media arts, gaming, ecological futures, quantum art, and design.

With events sprawling across the Monument-National, the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT), and new partner venues like OASIS Immersion and DASA, this year’s Forum unfolds under the theme Radical Rituals: a timely call for collective imagination and action.

Sarah Mackenzie, MUTEK’s Director of Creative Development and Forum Director. (Photo: Tess Roby)

Mapping the journey is Sarah Mackenzie, MUTEK’s Director of Creative Development and Forum Director, whose background in media arts curation, filmmaking, and cultural production (including Red Bull Music Academy and the Venice Biennale of Architecture) shapes the Forum’s distinctly interdisciplinary spirit. “I started off as a music journalist,” Mackenzie shares. “But what drew me to MUTEK was the Forum: this place where digital creativity becomes a meeting point, a space to connect the dots.”

This edition’s title, Radical Rituals, speaks to that ethos. “It’s really about grounding ourselves in human practice through repetitive acts that build meaning, especially in the face of technological acceleration,” she says. “Rituals, when repeated with intention, become radical acts of care, collaboration, and resilience.”

Disrupting Silos With a Three-Act Structure

This year’s Forum is structured like a three-act performance. “We wanted to break away from old-school categorizations. Separating days into industries or mediums no longer reflects how we work,” Mackenzie explains. Instead, Act One focuses on Storytelling and reshaping how we experience narrative. Act Two zooms in on Technologies and emergent tools that are transforming how we create, like quantum computing and gaming. Finally, Act Three explores Practices, spotlighting sustainability and ethics in artistic and technological innovation.

There’s a strong emphasis on professional development and knowledge-sharing throughout, with workshops, masterclasses, and alternative formats that go beyond the static. “We’re experimenting with formats this year—less panels, more interaction,” says Mackenzie. Expect in-game talks, like Alice Bucknell’s ecological simulation using Unreal Engine, or hands-on prototyping in New Tech Playgrounds.

Standout Sessions and Unmissable Guests

Some highlights this year include a rare public talk with Cristobal Tapia de Veer, the genre-blurring composer behind The White Lotus and Black Mirror, and a reading by scholar McKenzie Wark on techno-sensuality and queer rave culture. Music journalist Liz Pelley will do a book talk on Mood Machine, and Madame Gandhi will discuss the intersection of music and climate activism. Other highlights include roundtables on resisting artwashing, sessions on quantum composition, alternative music platforms, and artist-led festival models.

One of the most anticipated elements is the AI Ecologies Lab, a mini-exhibition showcasing the results of a new residency program exploring how AI can serve sustainable futures in the arts. Partnering with Indigenous research organization Abundant Intelligences, the project invited artists and technologists to incorporate Indigenous methodologies into AI development. Their work will be presented at the Monument-National in an immersive, choose-your-own-adventure format.

MUTEK’s Evolving Philosophy: Mutation and Memory

While the festival is often associated with music and technology, Mackenzie is quick to reframe: “The true DNA of MUTEK is mutation—the intersection of disciplines, tools, and creative practices.” The Forum mirrors that, acting as a “connective tissue” between the music showcases and broader cultural dialogues, with many of the featured artists also performing during the main festival.

More than just a symposium, MUTEK Forum has grown into a living archive of digital culture in transition. It’s a space to pass down knowledge, reflect critically on the tools we use, and collaboratively build new systems. “There’s no time for abstraction,” Mackenzie says. “With everything that’s going on in the world, ecological collapse and socio-political crises, we need practical, collective, and visionary ideas. Our aim is for the Forum to be where those seeds get planted.”

At its core, MUTEK Forum invites us to consider how the rituals we enact – whether through story, code, sound, or design – can shape the future. And in gathering to share, critique, and dream together, we might just begin to imagine a more inclusive, sustainable digital world.

“A festival is such a powerful occasion to bring us together,” Mackenzie reflects, “to create an ecosystem and a community where people can exchange knowledge, shift perspectives, and inspire one another.”

For the full schedule and passes, visit mutek.org