| dc.description | Biographies: Alain Thibault - General and Artistic Director
Curator and artistic director in the fields of digital arts, electronic music and sound art, Alain Thibault is also the founder
of two major events in Montreal, ELEKTRA - an annual festival showcasing performances in the digital arts, and the
BIAN, International Digital Arts Biennial, oriented towards exhibitions, installations and public art. Also an electronic
music composer, his work is largely disseminated throughout Canada and international scene.
Manuelle Freire - Associate Artistic Director and Executive Director
M.A., Ph.D. Candidate (expected graduation in summer 2017), Concordia University.
Manuelle Freire’s research and work is in the development of media art education and mediation programming in
higher education and the cultural sector. She works in developing flexible and adaptive organizational structures
(curricula, policy frameworks and sustainable institutional funding strategies) that are able to accommodate the
specificities of contemporary media art practice. Her doctoral research is on the implications of the institutional
legacies and disciplinary cultures that affect the implementation of new adapted structures. This research is funded
by Fonds de Recherche du Québec (CA), Concordia University Faculty of Fine Arts Graduate Fellowships (CA), and
Endeavour Fellowships (AUS).
Since 2012, while conducting research and teaching at Concordia University, she was programming coordinator of
Hexagram – the International Network for Research-Creation in Media Art and Digital Culture (2013 - 2016). During
that mandate she was (amongst other projects) the general manager for the organization and production of the 2015
Media Art Histories conference: Re-Create.
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At the following links, are some images of BIAN 2016.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/elektrafestival/albums/72157669232965151
https://www.flickr.com/photos/elektrafestival/albums/ | |
| dc.description.abstract | Although a relatively young manifestation, our biennale has quickly forged a strong reputation in the international media art scene, for the high caliber of work presented around timely thematics. Our event is unique and important to the network of media art practitioners for several reasons: 1) Montreal is the gateway between North America and Europe. We are strategically positioned to stimulate the cultural exchanges between the main poles of creation in the field, but also to expand the network into emerging hubs worldwide. Switzerland was the invited country for the 2016 biennial, but the exhibit included 10 artists from China and South Korea. Australia, South Africa, Colombia and Brazil were also represented; 2) Montreal offers a vibrant bilingual context of thriving cultural and creative industries in new technological media. Our biennale is centred on experimental applied research-creation, so it attracts communities of students, researchers, professionals, artists, cultural and creative entrepreneurs; 3) We present established artists alongside emerging artists. We curate amongst the most recent practices but we also revisit the work of pioneers of media art. For example, in 2018 we will be commissioning a reinterpretation of Robert Rauschenberg’s Open Score (1966).
The theme AUTOMATA will be carried on into 2018. In 2016 the theme was Art Made by Machines for Machines featuring works of art that defy the construct of singularity: the moment when machines, in the broader sense, will be as – or more – intelligent than humanity. The June 2018 edition, on the theme of Augmented Bodies, will be co-curated between Alain Thibault (ELEKTRA) and Peter Weibel (ZKM, Karlsruhe). The programming will include a 2-day conference co-organized between ELEKTRA, Milieux Institute (Concordia University), and Hexagram – the International Network for Research-Creation in Media Arts, Design, Technology and Digital Culture. We believe MAH delegates will be most interested in knowing about, and prepare their participation in our 2018 programming. We have engaging visuals and materials to display and give away. | |
