Mission

Mandate

Launched in the year 2000, MUTEK is dedicating itself to the presentation of live electronic music and real-time audiovisual performance, making it one of the rare outlets in North America for such innovations. After 20 years, the festival’s future-seeking mandate has matured—and while the promise has in many ways caught up with the present—its commitment to the ongoing mutations and variations of contemporary digital creativity remain, with its eyes and ears still fixated on what comes next.

The festival extends now to 6 days and nights—and integrates the professional Forum into the architecture of the week to enrich conversations and encounters with current technologically driven practices and philosophies. Plugged into a global circuit since inception, creating an international rendezvous for artists and publics alike, the festival thrives on creating a context for discovery and exchange. Faithful to its values of inclusion and accessibility, MUTEK is committed to a more equitable and representative programming of all diversities, in particular through the Amplify initiative.

It also magnifies Montréal, not just as its urban backdrop, but as the source of so much of its creative soul; the local is always elevated in dialogue with exceptional artists from around the world.

MUTEK has built a unique model over the years that has proven seductively exportable. Tentacles stretch across 4 continents, to 6 other cities now, with each satellite adapting the festival’s template of values as a means to inspire new ways of engaging with the richness of electronic and digital artistry.

In the media

Montréal redevient la capitale mondiale des arts numériques et des musiques électroniques de pointe grâce à la 23e édition du festival MUTEK. - Le Devoir (Québec) | August 2022

MUTEK is an electronic music and digital art festival that strives to create cutting-edge, immersive shows across a wide variety of genres and platforms. It is truly in a league of its own when it comes to unique audiovisual experiences in Montreal. - Frontrite (Québec) | August 2022

Montreal’s place within the Canadian cultural lexicon remains inimitable. The birthplace of Les Automatistes, the Arcade Fire, MUTEK, and Xavier Dolan, this sprawling metropolis has always been a hub for creative expression in all its various forms. - S Magazine (Canada) | February 2022

Combining audiovisual storytelling with performances and talks across six days, [MUTEK] is a treat for both tech and music fans. - Resident Advisor (UK) | Top Ten August 2022 Festivals

Depuis sa création en l’an 2000, MUTEK s’est forgé une solide réputation dans la scène électronique, sachant offrir tous les ans des line-ups innovants et pointus mettant en avant aussi bien les talents locaux qu’étrangers et contribuant au développement de Montréal au sein du panorama électronique mondial. TRAX (France) | May 2022

It’s an understatement to say that MUTEK played an important role in Montreal’s electronic scene through the years and it’s not overstating when I praise MUTEK for the reputation it gave us world-wide. - Montreal Times (Québec) | September 2019

MUTEK is a thoughtful fest, and after affiliating itself with the international initiative Amplify last year, achieved gender parity for the first time. This emphasis on the role of women and non-binary artists is not only reflected in the industry components of MUTEK, but also in the broader line-up. - Cult Montréal (Québec) | August 2019

A feast of provocative and boundary-pushing electronic music. [...] A longtime proponent of diversity, the festival had a particularly strong showing of female talent in 2018. - Resident Advisor (Canada) | August 2018

In a few numbers

• 820,000 festival goers around the world including 467,000 in Montreal since its creation
• 2,500 performances in the network representing over 500 world premieres
• 1,105 artists supported in Montreal including 578 Quebecers and Canadians and 527 from other countries
• 150 events in 49 cities and 22 different countries
• Over 1,000 collaborations with cultural institutions and festivals

Prizes and awards

• Prix le Grand Vivat récompensant les événements écoresponsables 2023
• Prix Vivats prévention et réduction à la source des matières résiduelles 2023
• Prix Vivats gestion des matières résiduelles 2021
• Les Vivats 2021
• Order of Arts and Letters Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec 2021
• Cultural Manager - Arts Management Chair Carmelle & Rémi-Marcoux 2021
• NUMIX Tribute Award by XN Québec 2021
• 35th Grand Prix du Conseil des Arts de Montréal 2020
• Prix Distinction of Tourisme Montréal 2020 (finalist)
• Coup de Coeur du Jury 2015 - Prix Ulysse (Tourisme Montréal)
• Grand Prix Grafika 2012
• Concours Boomerang 2011 and 2012
• Coupe International Design + Image Award 2011
• Applied Arts Awards 2011
• 25th Grand Prix du Conseil des Arts de Montréal 2010
• Golden Award Grand Prix Tourisme Québec 2009