PERFORMING ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY – RESEARCH-CREATION RESIDENCIES
SAT x LAB7
As part of the CALQ’s new Digital Hubs initiative, the Société des arts technologiques (SAT) and LAB7 are partnering to launch a new research-creation residency program. This program aims to provide artists with a space for exploration and technological innovation, freeing them from the constraints and pressure to produce results typically associated with production residencies.
We'll be supporting three projects that bring the performing arts and technological arts together around the theme of human movement. Whether you're a NPO, a collective or an individual artist, this program offers you personalized coaching by the SAT and LAB7 teams, two weeks (10 days) of work in a studio at the 7 Fingers’s Creation Centre in Montreal, as well as a $10,000 grant.
This program is designed for artists and collectives who wish to explore, experiment with, and develop an immersive artistic approach that combines the performing arts and technology, using cutting-edge or experimental technologies, without necessarily aiming to produce a finished work in the short term. We will help you identify and get comfortable with the technological tools relevant to your project, understand their limits and possibilities, and carry out a research-creation phase. You will also benefit from effective working methods for combining the performing arts and technological arts, thereby improving collaboration processes between professionals in these two sectors.
Application deadline: August 31st, 2026, at 5 p.m.
Results to be announced: early October, 2026
Eligibility Requirements
Who can apply?
- Artists, creators, collectives and companies or NPO-based creative organizations
- From the performing arts: circus, dance, theater, music ...
- And/or from technological arts: video, 3D, robotics, GenAI, XR, interactivity, sound…
- Teams that include at least one Quebec-based artist will be given priority
For which projects?
- Projects at the research-creation stage: aesthetic, narrative, or technological research, or prototyping (to test and validate technological choices, develop practices or explore the feasibility and possibilities of certain tools or devices).
- Projects combining performing arts and technological arts, using data from human movement and the performing arts to create a collective experience in real time
- Projects encouraging collaboration among artists, researchers and technologists.
Expected results
- Models, sketches, or prototypes
- Demonstrations, open labs, or informal presentations
- Process documentation (recordings, notes, reflections)
This program places greater emphasis on the research process and innovation than on the completion of a final work.
We place particular emphasis on these themes:
Data from human movement, particularly in the performing arts;
- Real time and live performance;
- Motion capture, markerless detection, computer vision;
- AI and generative AI for movement and performing arts;
Intelligent systems for human-machine interaction;
- Interactive and immersive storytelling and dramaturgy:
- Immersion and interactivity, multi-user experiences;
- Immersive environments, multisensory experiences, tracking of connected objects;
- Interactive scenography, interaction between artists or with the audience;
- Spatialization of sound, scenophony, the relationship between sound and the performing arts.
This list is not exhaustive: if your project is different but involves an exploration of human movement and combines performing art and technology, please feel free to apply
Program Objectives
- Support creation and innovation merging performing arts and technology.
- Encourage research, exploration and prototyping in creative projects at an early stage.
- Develop and share working methods that encourage collaboration between the performing arts and technology communities.
- Develop, in collaboration with the arts community, and share open-source and sustainable tools — the SAT Suite — as well as training programs, in order to strengthen the performing arts and digital arts communities and the connections between them.
Technological Integration During the Residency
These research-creation residencies aim at providing you with cutting-edge technologies so that you can explore their full creative potential and even push their boundaries by expanding their capabilities.
During this residency, you are required to integrate one or more of these technological tools into your workflow. You will, of course, be able to seamlessly combine them with the software and equipment you already use. The SAT and LAB7 teams will be on hand to actively support you with this technical integration, although our specific guidance will focus primarily on the tools in the SAT suite.
The following technological features will be available:
- Immersive content visualization and simulation (reference tools: Domeport and ossia score)
- Intermediate sequencer for the orchestration of interactive multimedia content (reference tool: ossia score)
- Library for creating connected objects on embedded systems (reference tool: Puara)
- Real-time spatialization of sound sources (reference tool: SpatGRIS)
- Real-time AI image generation (reference tool: Koaia)
- Computer vision (reference tool: LivePose)
How to
What's included?
- A $10,000 research-creation grant per project. This grant covers all costs related to food, travel and transportation, lodging, as well as any other expenses not listed below.
- An onboarding workshop to discover proposed tools, technologies and methods.
- Exploratory meetings.
- Access to SAT research space and equipment for a few days during the exploratory phase — as required and subject to availability.
- Access to a 7 Fingers studio from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for 10 days.
- Equipment — stage, circus and technological — as required and subject to availability.
- Technical and support team — as required and subject to availability.
- Project documentation: photos, video teaser, technical plan, etc.
- Presentation in front of a select number of guests.
When?
All participants must be available for the introductory workshop, a 3-day session in late October 2026 at the SAT. Exact dates will be confirmed upon announcement of the results.
Exploratory support meetings will be organized from November to January, depending on the availability of the artists and teams. These may take place remotely and/or at the 7 Fingers or SAT premises.
The 10-day residencies, in one of Les 7 Doigts de la Main’s studios, will take place between mid-January and mid-March 2027.
Exact dates will be confirmed and are subject to change depending on project needs and availability.
Participants must indicate their availability and unavailability on the registration form.
Subject to change according to project needs and availability.
Where?
7 Fingers Creation Center
2111, boul. Montreal
Quebec H2X 2T5
Participants will have access to a vast rehearsal space that can be used as a black box, with plenty of hanging space and high ceilings.
Size example (Studio 2)
Area: 4,095 ft2 / 372 m2
Dimensions: 91 ft x 45 ft / 27.7 m x 13.8 m
Height: 29 ft / 8.8 m
Photos and plans available in the program guide.
SAT prototyping space or interactive studio
1201 Saint-Laurent Boulevard, Montreal, Quebec H2X 2S6
Participants will have access to the SAT innovation department's experimentation and exploration areas: interactive studio and prototyping space.
The dome is not included in the experimental spaces available.
Application
Projects will be selected by a committee composed of members of 7 Fingers and SAT: artistic direction, research, innovation and business development, technical and technological direction, production.
The criteria to be evaluated are
- Consistency with the themes of the call for projects
- Quality of artistic approach
- Technological and artistic innovation
- Relevance of the disciplines and technologies chosen to serve the concept
- Skills and previous achievements of team members
- Project feasibility
- Impact of program on project development
Two one-hour online information sessions will be held on Wednesday, July 22nd :
In French at 10am
In English at 11am
Feel free to contact us at residences@les7doigts.com if you have any questions.
- Download the program guide, read it carefully, and familiarize yourself with the program rules.
- Prepare your attachments
- CVs and bios of team members and collaborators
- Project technical reader (to the best of your knowledge): dimensions of the performing area, any hanging requirements, a plan or drawing of the proposed installation, equipment you already have, whether or not you intend to bring it along for your working time on our premises, and any other information that will help us to prepare for your visit.
- Photos, videos, web links relevant to the evaluation of your project.
Note: There is a limit to the number of documents that can be submitted via the application form. Please provide high-resolution videos and portfolios via external links. We recommend using platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, Google Drive, Dropbox, or similar services. Please avoid WeTransfer or any other tools with a short download window.
- Fill out the application form. Since this form is hosted by Google, a Google account is required to submit documents and supporting materials.
Please note that selected participants will be required to provide compulsory liability 2M$ insurance.
FAQ
Yes, we encourage artists who wish to develop their practice through merging performing arts and technology to apply. Above all, we seek to support innovative projects with a strong, promising concept.
A certain degree of autonomy is required to participate, but individual artists are eligible. You can also apply with one or two collaborators, without forming a collective or company. If your team is missing an essential resource, please mention it on the application form. We'll take this into account when evaluating your application, and may be able to put you in touch with a suitable resource.
Yes, all spaces are accessible for people with reduced mobility.
This program is not limited to artists from Montreal. Please note that teams including at least one artist from Quebec will be given priority. Please note that our residency program does not cover transportation or accommodation costs.
Canada are eligible if they are citizens or permanent residents.
Preparatory meetings can be held remotely, but active project members must travel to Montreal by their own means for the onboarding workshop and the two weeks of studio work.
This program aims at helping you achieve a research-creation stage for your project, it is not a production residency. If your work matches the overall vision and strategies of 7 Fingers or SAT, discussions may take place regarding a possible subsequent production phase, but no promises are made in this regard.
No, the artist or collective owns the intellectual property of their project. However, if the project evolves towards production, 7 Fingers and SAT reserve a right of first refusal as producer or co-producer for production, distribution or broadcast. This means that you will be expected to offer 7 Fingers and SAT the possibility of producing, co-producing or broadcasting your work in due course. The terms and conditions of this right of first refusal will be stipulated in the contract between the artist or collective and Les 7 Doigts and SAT.
Yes, selected project leaders will have to sign a letter of agreement with 7 Fingers and SAT, setting out the terms and conditions of support
The SAT Suite brings together all the hardware and software technologies developed by SAT's Innovation department. Designed for artists, creative studios, museums, and universities, this suite makes it easier to create immersive environments, interactive installations, and multimodal experiences.
It provides a coherent, open, and modular approach, including tools for computer vision, gesture analysis, artificial intelligence, spatial audio, and multimedia orchestration. Find out more
Artists in residence will have unrestricted access to the tools developed at the SAT. Furthermore, this research-creation residency requires the use of tools from the SAT suite. All development work on these tools will be reinvested in the suite and made available to the community.
LAB7 is 7 Fingers’ technological lab. Founded in 2021, LAB7's mission is to promote the integration of technology in performing arts. This prototyping studio is open to the community and acts as a technological facilitator through its research, knowledge-sharing and technological showcase activities. Find out more
SAT's public research centre aims to be a hub for producing technological and methodological resources that are readily transferable to practical settings.
Our methodology involves developing transferable technologies and methodologies through user experimentation. Through technological innovation, our primary objective is to foster user-centered innovation focused on the processes of creating collective experiences around our research axes: immersion, co-creation, and interaction.
In ongoing dialogue with artists and drawing on research-creation methodologies, the Innovation department develops an open, accessible, and interoperable technological toolkit to create collective experiences in the technological arts. Find out more
Don't miss this unique opportunity to develop your project in an inspiring and professional setting.
We look forward to welcoming you!
We thank the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) for its support.
Partners
