RE: MUTEK IN DANGER? Not really...

[Alain Mongeau <amongeau@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello to all

Regarding the mail sent by Marc Leclair (Akufen), I would like to bring some
light on the situation

MUTEK is not in danger per se. We are just struggling hard to secure the
financial structure of the event. Last year the event was entirely financed
by Ex-Centris, on the basis that it was seed money to allow for the project
to lift off the ground.  This year the deal was to get other partners
involved, both public and private - arts councils, sponsors, etc. Ex-Centris
is not to be criticized, on the contrary, it is a non-profit environment
that has been supportive of MUTEK since the beginning.  It's just that other
players are often slow to get involved - and it's always like that, I know
by experience because of my involvement in other similar projects.  For
example, we have been awaiting for a response from Heritage Canada for some
time already (HC is one of the federal instances we have approached), but
because of the Canadian elections last fall, the decision-making process was
slowed down.  

During the last few days, I have asked to many of the artists who have
participed to MUTEK 2000 to describe the impact that the event has had on
their carreer.  The idea was to accumulate additional information to help us
be more convincing on the usefulness and the necessity of the event when
asked to present and defend it.

Sometimes, of course, I get discouraged by the immobilism I get to witness
when trying to push the project.  I think Marc caught me on such a bad day.
On the whole, however, I must say that people are highly supportive, much
more that I had expected.  It's just that good intentions often take time to
translate into concrete gestures...

This being said, any form of support is always welcome. In this sense, I
thank Marc for his initiative.  Already emails of support are coming in at
an unexpected speed. They are useful as they will add more weight to our
arguments.  

So, as far as I am concerned, the next MUTEK will take place in May, as
planned (the right dates are May 23 to 27 - the next MUTEK newsletter will
be more explicit on that); during the next few weeks, we will be finalizing
its program. In the meantime, Montrealers will have something to chew on
with the MICRO_MUTEK 1 event, featuring Kit Clayton, Monolake and Deadbeat,
on Feb. 9th.

thanking you all 

Alain Mongeau