Techno Culture Returns to Montreal

This month, rave culture returns to Montreal with the launch of a free, three-part traveling exhibit dedicated to techno.

An interdisciplinary display exploring the evolution of the techno scene, from Detroit in the 1980s to West Berlin during the Cold War, to its present-day prominence, Techno Worlds runs in Montreal from May 13 to June 19.

Exhibit Details

In what’s billed as “a 3-part pathway to discover,” the exhibit takes place at a trio of venues:

• The PHI Centre will host an exhibition during the day.
• The Goethe-Institut Montreal will host one in the afternoon and from sunset to midnight.
• The Society for Arts and Technology (SAT) will present an exploration of rave culture in the evening.

Admission is free for all three stops on the circuit, and no reservations are required.

Featuring photo, video, and installation works by various artists such as Chicks on Speed, Abdul Qadim Haqq, Henrike Naumann & Bastian Hagedorn, Mamba Negra, and Lisa Rovner, Techno Worlds is a Goethe-Institut exhibition that “explores the areas of tension between underground and mainstream, politics and commerce, space and time,” according to a press release.

The three stations explore clubs while also presenting rave culture as a community and a platform for political campaigns and resistance. The exhibition’s three curators explained that “other contributions explore the [utopian] importance of techno culture, club culture as a place of queer resistance, and aesthetic principles of intertextuality in techno.”

“We show artistic positions or interpretations surrounding the theme of techno from different eras—not just from the 90s, but up until today,” said Mathilde Weh, one of the curators. “We definitely didn’t want to linger in nostalgia, but instead show a forward-looking vision of this lifestyle.”

Born in Detroit, where Black musicians played a key role in the genre’s emergence, techno has a storied history, particularly in Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was often viewed as a unifying element between East and West. The music was electronic and minimalistic, offering a strong sense of freedom in clubs where performance was collective rather than centered around individual stars.

“Clubs represented a place of refuge where like-minded individuals could meet and form a community,” the curators noted, also emphasizing the movement’s expansion into various unoccupied spaces such as industrial buildings and streets, which became venues for techno parties. This appropriation of urban spaces represented a critique of the prevailing economic interests in urban living.

The spirit of protest and pushback against societal norms is palpable throughout the exhibition, which references diverse techno scenes across different times and locations globally. Featured works delve into the complexities of techno, including its relation to technology and philosophy, while addressing contradictions surrounding consumerism and commercialization.

To celebrate this lively culture, a one-off party is scheduled for May 27 at the SAT with acclaimed Amsterdam-based DJ Lena Willikens, along with Kris Guilty and Gene Tellem (open to individuals ages 18 and older). Furthermore, on June 7 at the PHI Centre, a screening of Romuald Karmakar’s documentary If I Think of Germany at Night (The evolution of electronic dance music in Germany) will spotlight five DJs in Berlin and Frankfurt, followed by a panel discussion addressing techno culture in Montreal.

Techno Worlds debuted in Budapest in 2021, and it will continue its international tours until 2025. Montreal marks its first stop in North America. For more information, visit the Goethe-Institut Montreal, SAT, or PHI Centre.