DIGITAL CULTURE IS heading for the mainland, in the form of Mutek, a Montreal-based annual celebration of electronic music and media arts that's become one of the most important festivals of its kind during the past five years.
Organisers have selected China as the festival's first Asian stop, with a series of performances and workshops scheduled for various cities next month - but it's a choice that might surprise some, given Japan's dominance of electronic music in the region.
'The fact that we're playing electronic music might have led us to think we'd be performing in Japan first,' says Guillaum Coutu Dumont, half of Canadian duo EGG, which combines glitchy sounds and cartoon-tech sensibilities. 'But we like to do things differently.'
Mutek director Alain Mongeau says Japan is definitely an important market, 'especially for such a niche genre as electronic music'. But he says Mutek has 'never had the chance to make it there'.
Japan's loss is China's gain. 'China not only is ready for Mutek, it needs many more similar events,' says Christiaan Virant, who is one half of Beijing-based minimalist laptop duo FM3.
Mutek-affiliated events have been held throughout Europe and the US, and the festival has gone on the road before, to Mexico and Chile. Next month, Beijing, Chengdu and Shenzhen will be added to the list.
'Mutek is not only a music festival,' says Francis Acquarone, of [010] Productions, a Beijing-based promotions agency that's organising the festival with the Canadian embassy. 'It features visual, digital, new technology and education elements, while also serving as a gathering platform for industry contacts from around the world to exchange ideas.'
