Since its inception, MUTEK has positioned itself as an international platform for cultural exchange, fostering dialogue between emerging scenes and established voices in digital and sonic creation. In 2025, Italy stands out with a strong artistic presence, reflecting the vibrancy of its contributions to electronic music and audiovisual practices.

Renowned for its avant-garde traditions, from kinetic art to the experimental electronics of the 1960s, Italy has nurtured a distinctive current of sonic and visual research over several decades. Today, Italian artists carry this legacy forward through minimalist aesthetics, modular technologies, instrumental performance, and immersive storytelling, placing themselves at the forefront of the global digital arts scene.

This year, exchanges between Québec and Italy deepen. With the support of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Montréal, MUTEK Montréal welcomes several Italian-related projects, while Québec-based artists have travelled to Rome to take part in Videocittà. A fertile dialogue is taking shape between these two creative poles, united by a shared interest in hybrid forms, expanded sensoriality, and emerging technological narratives.

Abul Mogard & Grand River

Drawing from their album In uno spazio immenso, Grand River and Abul Mogard craft slow-moving, resonant soundscapes that strike a knife-edge balance between booming, operatic grandeur and soft-focus simplicity, illuminating the subtle outlines and illusory rhythms as much as the dense, almost overpowering textures. Their live performance balances weight and stillness creating space for each listener to wander inward.

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Performance on Friday, August 22 at Théâtre Maisonneuve as part of the A/Visions 1 program.

Gadi Sassoon & Portrait XO feat. 555n

As a world premiere, Hypercast merges experimental vocals, live violin, and AI-driven sonification into a rich, real-time exchange. Born from a SAT residency, this trio—Gadi Sassoon, Portrait XO, and synthetic agent 555n—invites audiences into a bold collision of human intuition and machine creativity.

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Performance on Thursday, August 21 at the SAT as part of the Nocturne 2 program.

Quayola

In Luce, Quayola transforms Italy’s vast Archivio Luce into algorithmic paintings, where machines reinterpret history through glitches and form. Classical imagery dissolves into abstract code, producing a poetic tension between memory and mechanical error. A striking fusion of archival depth and digital abstraction.

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Performance on Friday, August 22 at Théâtre Maisonneuve as part of the A/Visions 1 program.

Valentina Magaletti

Performing three times at MUTEK Montréal 2025 — a solo live set, a duo with upsammy, and as part of the trio Holy Tongue — Valentina Magaletti explores rhythm across multiple forms. Her practice merges sonic experimentation with physical performance, revealing a sensitive and evolving approach to percussion.

In performance, Valentina Magaletti crafts a sonic space where rhythm becomes narrative. Her sets unfold through tactile gestures, shifting between fragile textures and dense, hypnotic patterns. She explores percussion not as pure timekeeping, but as a medium for emotional and physical resonance. Listeners can expect an immersive experience where sound feels sculpted by hand.

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Solo performance on Tuesday, August 19 on the esplanade Tranquille as part of the Expérience 1 program

Perfomance with upsammy on Wednesday, August 20 at the SAT as part of the Nocturne 1 program

Performance with Holy Tongue on Thursday, August 21 at the SAT as part of the Nocturne 2 program

At the intersection of cultural identity, collaboration, and audiovisual experimentation, the Italian presence at MUTEK Montréal reflects a transnational dynamic that transcends borders and unfolds within a living territory of ideas, forms, and sounds.

These artists are presented with the support of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Montréal, whose contribution helped make these exchanges possible.