30 years ago, AdaX (initially Studio XX) began its life as a bilingual feminist digital and tech arts centre, offered as an alternative to traditional institutions with the goal of encouraging women to discover and use emerging technologies. Today, the expanded mandate includes feminist, queer, trans, and gender non-conforming perspectives on technology. The HTMLLes festival is a bi-annual showcase and gathering event for the works produced by the collective and its associates, including exhibitions, workshops, and talks. Programming coordinator Tyra Maria Trono spoke about this year’s HTMLLes festival.
“Our goals are to bring the Montreal community together under the same goals with this year’s festival, titled On a Human Scale,” Trono explains. “For me, it means rethinking technology. It’s about artists and creators who focus on everyday realities of living with tech. It looks at lived experiences and collective ways of working. It challenges the idea that tech is neutral and looks at the social and political impacts from technologies, such as AI. It invites us to be thoughtful.”
“It’s a community-driven way of engaging with technology,” Trono says.
In particular, Trono identifies “slow tech” as a key aspect of the festival. “Slow tech is when we slow down and rethink things such as what we’re using and what things we’re making happen.”
The events offered are varied and include exhibitions, workshops, performances, and talks. One event taking place may 16th in collaboration with OBORO is Fannie L’Heureux’s “At the whim of our permeable bodies”, a relational and performative experiment around the ritual of tea. The audience is invited to share tea and biscuits. Film screenings on May 14 address the ways technologies abut and intrude upon human lives. A live music showcase featuring Echonymphia, IRL, and Audréanne Filion takes place on May 9th. There are also workshops for cyanotype, writing, coding a website, and reimagining oral tradition with Adobe Fresco.
“I’m proud of everything and excited for this,” says Trono. “Everyone’s working really hard. We have a strong community and a lot of members are participating.”
Trono notes that the community is set up so that members and artists learn from each other. There’s a regular monthly event where members share their work and get help from one another. “You can be someone that appreciates tech and learns from it. You don’t need to come from a tech background.”
Trono encourages people to come to HTMlles if they’re curious. “You don’t need to be an expert in art or tech,” Trono says. “There are different ways of thinking and feeling about technology. The events are places to talk and learn from each other.”
“It’s mostly participating,” Trono adds. “That’s how I see it. I feel like everything is about participating and being together.”
HTMLLes takes place from May 6 – June 7, 2026. Info about the festival can be found HERE.
