Elektra Festival
ELEKTRA presents and promotes works created at the intersections fo contemporary art and new technologies, inscribed in the latest esthetics currents of research and experimentation. ELEKTRA produces the ELEKTRA Festival and the International Digital Art Biennial (BIAN), both in Montreal. Since its creation in 1999, ELEKTRA has contributed to the international outreach of Quebec and Canadian contemporary digital artists and works of art.
Description
ELEKTRA disseminates and promotes artistic creation that explores the intersections between traditional genres such as music, video, film, design, gaming and sound or interactive installations, with the latest digital technologies and techno-scientific research-creation.
Its events welcome avant-garde artists from around the world, with an emphasis on Quebec and Canadian talent, and contribute to Montreal's recognition as a hub for contemporary digital art.
Through its local, national and international events and activities, ELEKTRA offers professional opportunities for artists and creators of contemporary digital art to present at, and exchange with cultural organizations, creative industries and other stakeholders
History
In 1999, the Association pour la création et la recherche électroacoustique du Québec (ACREQ) assembled its cultural and artistic activities into one annual event called ELEKTRA Festival, with the goal to present works and artists that combine digital visual media with new technologies and cutting-edge electronic music.
In 2007, the ELEKTRA Festival initiated its networking and professional development activity: The International Digital Art Marketplace (MIAN). As it evolved from year to year, it remains until today the PRO component of ELEKTRA Montreal.
In June 2012, ELEKTRA Montreal launched the International Biennial of Digital Art (BIAN) in order to be able to present, over a longer period of time, installations and exhibitions of artworks that explore digital technological tools in new, innovative or critical ways. The venues vary from year to year: the organizers work with several partner organizations and cultural institutions on the island of Montréal, including le Musée des beaux-arts de Montréa l, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Arsenal art contemporain, la Société des arts technologiques, la Cinémathèque Québécoise, Perte de Signal, l’Usine C, le centre Phi, Oboro, Anteism, ELLEPHANT, CQAM etc.
Programming
ELEKTRA produces:
Since 1999, The ELEKTRA International Digital Art Festival engages audiences in discovering a wide range of performance practices, particularly audiovisual, immersive, participatory, and robotic experiences.
The International Marketplace for Digital Art (MIAN) hosts major actors of the international digital arts and culture scene. This annual gathering is organized in the framework of the ELEKTRA Festival, and is open to the public. The goal is to promote exchanges between participants, and foster international outreach opportunities for Quebec and Canadian artists.
The International Digital Art Biennial (BIAN) is a large contemporary digital art exhibition held in Montreal, usually in Spring. Each edition showcases artworks from a country or region of the world, alongside Canadian and other international artists. While the ELEKTRA Festival focuses on performances, the BIAN presents robotic, interactive installations and artworks produced by means of new technological media, or based on experimental approaches to technoscientific research.
BIAN 2018 AUTOMATA: Sing the Body Electric – June 21 to August 5 - Guest country: Germany
BIAN 2016 AUTOMATA: Art made by machines for machines – June 3 to July 3 - Guest Country: Switzerland
BIAN 2014 PHYSICAL/ITÉ: May 1 to June 19 - Guest region: The Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
BIAN 2012 PHENOMENA: April 18 to June 13 - Guest country: France
In addition to its annual festival and biennale, ELEKTRA participates in or organizes other punctual activities to present and promote digital art in the city of Montreal, including artist tours, educational and cultural mediation activities aligned with the arts and digital culture sectors.
In 2019, ELEKTRA opened the ELEKTRA gallery. Located in the Pôle de Gaspé, the new gallery promotes local and international artistic discoveries, featuring premieres and exclusive pieces of contemporary digital art.
Internationally, ELEKTRA organizes and collaborates in numerous events, festivals, exhibitions and conferences, thus stimulating the dissemination and growth of Quebec’s contemporary digital art.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
- 2013: 28th Grand Prix of the Art Council of Montreal for which ACREQ | ELEKTRA is a finalist, for the creation of the BIAN.
- 2012: Recognition award in the Digital Art section of the Grand Prix du Conseil des arts de Montréal for its first International Biennial of Digital Art.
- In 2010, ACREQ | ELEKTRA and the Mutek festival win ex æquo the 25th Grand Prix 9 of the Conseil des arts de Montréal 2010.
- 2009: Grand Prix of the Art Council of Montreal ex aqueo - to distinguish Montreal as the North American capital of digital arts.
- 2002: Grand Prix recognition award of the Art Council of Montreal for the 2002 edition of the ELEKTRA Festival at Usine C.