MUTEK.JP Pro Conference

An international conference exploring the future of electronic music, digital art, gaming, and technology

On Sunday, November 22, MUTEK.JP will host the international conference MUTEK.JP Pro Conference 2026 at Park Terrace, MoN Takanawa, bringing together artists, curators, and cultural institution professionals from Japan and abroad.

The conference will explore a wide range of topics, including the relationship between games and art, new creative collaborations between music and technology, experimental approaches to sound and moving images, and international connections within East Asia’s audiovisual scene.

Featuring four sessions, including a special program in collaboration with the British Council, the conference will offer multiple perspectives on the current state and future possibilities of art and technology.

Event Details

Date: Sunday, November 22, 2026
Time: 13:00–16:50
Venue: MoN Takanawa: The Museum of Narratives / Park Terrace
Admission: Free

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13:00–13:50 | Video Games, Art, and Worldbuilding: Legitimacy and Institutions

Speakers:
Sunny Cheung – M+ (HK)
Tomo Kihara – Artist and Game Designer (JP)
Escher Tsai – Hello World (TW)

Moderator:
Benoit Palop - MUTEK.JP / LAN Party (FR/JP)

Two decades after critics declared that games could "never be art," the debate has moved on, not through argument alone, but through institutions, auteurs, and audiences.

From major museums acquiring video games to landmark exhibitions in Europe and Asia, games have entered the art world. Yet their recognition raises new questions: how do you exhibit a world? Who is the artist when the player co-authors the work? Do games need the same institutional recognition in Asia as they do in the West, where museums have played a major role in establishing their artistic status?

In Asia, games often draw their cultural significance from popular culture, industry, and heritage. This panel brings together diverse voices to map where game art stands today, with worldbuilding as the medium's defining artistic contribution.

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14:00–14:50 | Where Art and Music Meet Technology: New Possibilities for Creative Collaboration | Presented by the British Council

Speakers:
Marie McPartlin – Director, Somerset House Studios (UK)
Jacob Silkin – Music Programmer, Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) (UK)
Rivca Burns – Head of Music, Factory International (UK)
Luke Kemp – Curator of Feel The Sound (UK)

Moderator:
TBC

Exploring New Possibilities for Creative Collaboration and International Cultural Exchange at the Intersection of Art, Music, and Technology

Presented in collaboration with the British Council, this special session brings together leading cultural professionals from the UK to explore how technology is transforming music and visual art, and the new creative possibilities emerging when artists engage with technology.

The discussion will also examine opportunities for cross-border collaboration, the development of artist communities, and how international networks can support the future of arts and culture.

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15:00–15:50 | Exploring Tensions: Sound, Image and the Making of the Unexpected

Speakers:
Johanna Elina Sulkunen (FI/DK)
Riccardo Giovinetto (IT)
Robert Lippok & Lucas Gutierrez (DE+AR)

Moderators:
Albéric Maillet & Ahlem Baccouche - Orbis (CA/QC)

Audiovisual performance brings precise preparation into contact with the possibility of surprise. This panel explores how artists work with that tension: building structures, choosing constraints and deciding where to leave room for experimentation and unexpected results. Through concrete examples, the artists discuss what they control, what they discover, and how they create the conditions for something new to emerge within their own audio-visual formats and their wider practice.

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16:00–16:50 | Signal Crossing: How East Asia's Audiovisual Scenes Connect

Speakers:
Monique Chiang – Dimension Plus (TW)
Lionclad – Azikazin Magic World (KR)
Eq (E.O.U + vq) (JP)
JACKSON kaki (JP)

Moderator:
Henry Cooper - Mixmag Asia (UK)

Taipei, Seoul and Tokyo each have distinct audiovisual scenes, and the links between them are growing. This panel brings together three artists performing at the Play 3 program, each in a cross-border collaboration, to discuss how those connections form: how partnerships begin, how sound and image meet, and how a show is built across cities and languages. The artists reflect on what their scenes share, where they differ, and what would make working across the region easier.