MUTEK would like to thank everyone who took part in the 18th edition of the festival. To all of the artists whose ingenuity, generosity and performances are the soul of the festival; our local and international community of attendees and participants, with their enthusiasm, attention and expertise; our amazing partners and collaborators who support and believe in the MUTEK project; our dedicated interns, and to our volunteers who glue it all together on the ground — we are deeply grateful. We are also delighted that audiences followed us in our change of dates and were present in such great numbers, creating an incredible vibe and conviviality that has been remarked on in every corner. The switch from spring to late summer also resulted in increased ticket sales and a greater gathering of the local community. Along with the international, 4-city focus of this edition, the festival also hosted its largest global community of artists and professionals ever, with an expansive range of artistic flavours and a deeply engaged discursive program during the days.

We’re pleased to announce that we’re back next year from August 22 to 26 for number 19.

MUTEK 2017 BY THE NUMBERS

43 000 festival entries
147 artists involved in 102 performances across more than 20 different programs, including 50 Canadian, North American and world premieres
Over 200 industry professionals, promoters and festival directors in attendance
1700 entries for the 25 daytime activities featuring artist Q&As, panels, presentations, workshops (Derivative) and showrooms (Roland, Moog, Native Instruments) as part of the free Digi Lab program and the Music Cities Symposium
700 entries to the free exhibition at Espace culturel Georges-Émile-Lapalme of the Place des Arts in collaboration with Barbican, Somerset House Studios and Milieux Institute.
2 programs broadcast on NTS Radio
2 programs presented by RBMA

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL MENTIONS

Boasting one of the richest and widest programs ever, with multiple stages and genres running across 6 days, highlights were myriad.

The A/VISIONS program delivered a magical sensorial performance from Robert Henke’s laser, data and sound project Lumière III, which sold out the Monument-National on Thursday evening. The world premiere of Three Pieces with Titles from artificiel’s Alexandre Burton and Julien Roy theatrically-illustrated inventive real-time audiovisual sorcery and charm, while Michela Pelusio and Glenn Vervliet’s opto-acoustic, kinetic-fibre-sculpture mesmerized with its hypnotic variations, causing the audience to erupt with appreciation.

Daphni’s total, all-night takeover of the Metropolis on Wednesday night proved a serious point about Dan Snaith’s rhythmic and mixing abilities as he kept the crowd throbbing during 6 hours and a half. Thursday night’s drone program finished with the devastating, mind and body-altering performance by Norwegian sonicmaster Deathprod, who turned in one of the most talked about experiences of the whole festival. Techno night on Friday brought a series of immaculate widescreen displays of the genre with Aurora Halal’s maximalist set followed by Surgeon & Lady Starlight tearing up their machines, eliciting the most buzzing praise.

At the SAT on Wednesday, Inter_Connect London hosted stand-out performances from Graham Dunning with his inventive, disarming turntablism constructions and uncommon grooves, while the zoetrope animations on hacked turntables by Sculpture blew audiences away. Berlin’s night on Saturday showed Marie Davidson to be clearly in charge, while rRoxymore laid down her trippy, tech-y, sensual concoctions. On Sunday MUTEK occupied the dome with the world premiere of Kara-Lis Coverdale’s moving and majestic VoxU, hailed by critics immediately in the days after. Sunday’s closer downstairs at the SAT was packed for the Ecuadorian swing of Nicola Cruz, but Kuniyuki stole the whole show at the end with his ebullient, improvisational, dexterous mix of machine grooves and live sampling.

On the experimental tip, UK artists showcased during the NTS programs that shook expectations and delivered exceptional sets, included the rarified, electro-acoustic dub inflections of Beatrice Dillon, and massive live sets from Space Afrika and Helm that still have people chattering.

The free outdoor stage presented by the 375th anniversary of Montréal ran through a gamut of styles and city frames with Bambooman and Reginald Omas Mamode IV striking memorable poses for London, Borchi for Mexico, JMII for Barcelona, and N.M.O. and Lotic for Berlin. Local artists interconnected in these bills with notable sets included revlux, Van Did and Pelada.