Welcome to MUTEK Forum
A platform and gathering for bold ideas in digital creation
Running in synergy with the festival, the 11th edition of MUTEK Forum— a platform and marketplace for bold ideas in digital creation—returns from August 20 to 22, 2025, bringing together artists, institutions, researchers, technology professionals, digital experts, and curators. Over three days, a dynamic program of talks, artist performance lectures, masterclasses, workshops, screenings, listening sessions, and networking events will highlight the most recent, innovative, and inspiring practices in digital creation, with a focus on ethical considerations and ecological sustainability in technology.
Spanning music, artificial intelligence (AI), extended reality (XR), media art, gaming, quantum computing, architecture, and design, the Forum explores the intersections of art, technology, and science, fostering new connections and ideas.
This year, the Forum introduces new formats, groundbreaking industry collaborations, and demos from AI Ecologies Lab, MUTEK’s interdisciplinary residency program to develop sustainable AI tools for the digital arts. The MUTEK Forum will also feature the MUTEK Market component, launched in 2020, which connects emerging Québec and Canadian artists with presenters from around the world, fostering opportunities for business development and international collaboration.
Theme of the Year
Radical Rituals invites a collective cultural inquiry, expanding our shared imaginaries through bold perspectives and transformative practices. In a time of rapid technological shifts and socio-political instability, rituals become essential tools for navigating complexity. This year’s theme frames the Forum as a space for resilience, care, and collaboration, where existing and emerging practices can spark systemic change. We call them rituals for their power to build meaning and community, and radical for their ability to transform dominant paradigms and imagine more just, inclusive futures.
To foster interdisciplinary exchange, the Forum will break down the silos in digital creativity by organizing each day into themed chapters. Storytelling: Expanding Realities, presented by the Canada Media Fund (CMF), will explore new narrative forms and immersive experiences. Technology: Future Interfaces will examine transformative tools and platforms shaping creative expression. Practices: Ethical Futures will focus on sustainable, inclusive, and responsible approaches to artistic and technological innovation.
The MUTEK AI Ecologies Lab is an interdisciplinary residency fostering innovative and sustainable approaches to AI in the cultural sector. As AI democratizes rapidly, its potential for creative exploration and global impact grows. However, the environmental toll of AI, including energy and water consumption, calls for urgent action to develop more sustainable practices. This lab provides a platform to examine these challenges while advancing AI-driven innovation in art and culture. The project is a collaboration between MUTEK, the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT), Applied AI Institute, Milieux Institute and Abundant Intelligences.
Tickets
MUTEK Forum offers several ticketing options, including the Forum Passport and the Festival + Forum Passport, along with two new additions: the Student Forum Passport at a fixed price of $90 (+ service fees and taxes) and an additional networking access: MUTEK Match at $100 (+ service fees and taxes). MUTEK Match is a B2B custom matchmaking session with MUTEKs’ international community of festival programmers, curators, cultural institutions, and industry leaders.
Day passes will be available for purchase sale on May 13.
MUTEK is proud to donate 1% of ticket sales to the EarthPercent project, a charitable organization co-founded by Brian Eno to harness the power of music in the fight against the climate emergency.
Partners
MUTEK would like to thank its partners, who play a key role in the maintenance and development of its activities and have provided particular support towards the production of the Forum.
