At the crossroad of visual arts and literature with new media, Agence TOPO is an artist-run center dedicated to the production, dissemination and distribution of independant multimedia works.

Agence TOPO is an Montreal based artist-run centrer dedicated to the production, dissemination and ditribution of independant multimedia works.

The Production aspect is articulated around the realization of web art projects and the hosting of artists-in-residence. The centre works with artists from various cultural horizons, from the disciplinary point of view (visual arts, audio, poetry, theatre, performance, etc.) or linguistic and ethnocultural belonging. The Dissemination aspect aims to promote the multimedia works on a local, national and international scope.The Distribution aspect is the "Electronic Showcase", a catalogue of arts and essay multimedia titles (CD/DVD Rom and video) .

HISTORY
Agence TOPO was founded in Montreal on June 22, 1993. The centre grew out of the will of its founding members to develop a structure allowing the organization of collective and multidisciplinary projects which integrate the disciplines of photography and literature.

With the development of digital technologies, Agence TOPO’s mandate has naturally grown to occupy the Web as a territory of creation and dissemination. In 1998, TOPO coproduced Liquidation, a web-audio fiction and started its web activity. Since then, TOPO has produced other collective projects with some 100 artists from the fields of visual arts, media arts, theater, audio and literature. It has also given support for the production of several other projects. These projects have been presented in over thirty international festivals, exhibits and electronic arts events. For the last two years TOPO has been launching an annual call for projects to support the production of multimedia works and to host artists-in-residence.

While aiming to produce more original content for the web, Agence TOPO is also interested in presenting and distributing independant multimedia artworks on the web and on disks (CD, DVD). In 2001, the centre launched the ”Electronic Showcase” as a space for the promotion and the presentation of artistic and experimental works on CD/DVD. The Showcase’s current catalogue presents some 60 titles from Canada, Australia, France, Belgium and the United-States.
Willing to reach a broader audience by accompanying its web productions with “off screen” components, TOPO has begun to complement the web works with another form of presentation: a publication, an exhibition/installation or a performance. In 2006, TOPO published Post-Audio_DVD, a compilation of audiovisual works complementing the web project Post-Audio Net Lab.

In 2007-2008 the centre initiated the Sortir de l’écran/Spoken Screen series in collaboration with Laboratoire NT2 (New technologies, new textualities) of the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). This concern to enlarge the visibility and the understanding of multimedia works is also expressed through the organization of training activities. Agence TOPO regularly builds partnerships with other centres for the production and the presentation of its activities. The web site –AgenceTOPO.qc.ca– is hosted for free on the Société des arts technologiques (SAT) server.

In 2008, Agence TOPO celebrates its 10 years of creation on the web with a small publication distributed for free within the Canadian and international visual and media arts network.

5455, avenue De Gaspé, local 1001
Montréal (Québec)
Canada H2T 3B3
(514) 279-8676
agence [at] agencetopo [dot] qc [dot] ca