Maid in Cyberspace was the first international Web festival to take place in Montreal. Organized by Studio XX and funded by the Canada Council, the festival took place in Montreal on May 31-June 1, 1997 at the Playwrights‘ Workshop. During the festival, Studio XX presented the works of twenty artists, including seven Canadian artists.

Their works explored the technology proper to the WWW and the possibilities of this medium.  Issues of feminism, questions of identity, sexuality, the uses of technology and the Web by women as well as precedents in the history of Cyberfeminism were discussed. The public was invited to explore the works as well as theoretical texts presented on the Web site. The festival received more than 150 visitors over two days and its Web site hosting the projects has been visited over 5,000 times since June 1997.

The festival attracted substantial media coverage and public interest, giving purpose to the existence of an annual Web festival in Montreal. The second edition of the Web festival, Maid in Cyberspace — Encore!took place from November 6 to 28, 1998 at the Belgo Building in downtown Montreal. Featured were eleven Web artists from the USA, Australia, England, Scotland and Estonia.   Five of the artists were Canadian. Nancy Patterson (media artist) JR Carpenter and Pascale Trudel (local Web artists) and Ingrid Hein (technical facilitator) presented conferences. Katherine Liberovskaya presented a forum on Russian Web art. More than 500 visitors participated.

In February 2000, the third Maid in CyberspaceWeb festival took place at the Cinémathèque québécoise, in the heart of downtown Montreal.  It featured ten Web art works, four installations by technology-based artists, net based performances and artists talks.  Amongst the seventeen participating artists and theorists, twelve were Canadian. Furthermore, every night, the public could attend round table made up of the presenting artists from Canada and the US.  From February 1st to the 6th 2000, more than 600 people visited the Cinémathèque and more than 4800 virtual visitors navigated the festival’s Web site.  The following weeks, more than 2000 visitors continued browsing the site, thus demonstrating the interest such an event creates as well as its relevance.

From February 7 to 11 2001, the Festival was once again held at the Cinémathèque québécoise. The theme was mutant identities and cultures. Maid in Cyberspace/les HTMlles 4 presented 14 Web-art works, a multimedia installation, a Web-jam bringing together sound artists from Vancouver, Winnipeg and Montreal, three conferences, a digital sound piece, a workshop given by a local artist and an interactive web-site. Four Canadian artist-run centers collaborated with us by suggesting names of artists from their regions whose work well suited the theme of mutant identities and cultures. During the week, over 400 people visited the physical exhibition, and over 350 attended the conferences, the Web-jam and the closing night. Finally, our web-site recorded 350 000 hits during the week of the Festival and 700 000 during the month of February… a record we would never have even dreamed of!

From February 6th to the 10th, Studio XX will present the 5th edition of its cyberart festival Maid in Cyberspace / Les Htmlles in collaboration with L A CHAMBRE BLANCHE, Quebec City. This year’s theme explores the Double, Multiple, Contamination and off screen's extension of Cyberspace. It will be presented in Montreal at the Société des arts technologiques (SAT) from February 6 to 10, and at La Caserne in Quebec City from February 9 to 10, 2002.

More than ever, the festival constitutes a unique event and a privileged moment for those who are interested in ne w technologies. It has become an indispensable forum for meetings, exchanges and discoveries by the public and participating artists. This year’s edition proposes a reflection on the context of the Web as hybrid,plural and mixed spaces, issued from and anchored within specific histories and traditions. Media artists now work more and more often in teams and must share their knowledge in such contexts. Coming from diverse backgrounds, their formal training is varied: visual arts, sciences, computers, communications, graphic design etc. The resulting media a rt works demonstrate and expose these diffe rent influences and sources of inspiration. As such, this selection of innovative works from Canadian and international artists reflect these multiple avenues; cinematographic, contemplative, didactic and conceptual,among others. This year’s collaboration with LA CHAMBRE BLANCHE assures the festival’s presence in Quebec City. LA CHAMBRE BLANCHE proposes a selection of Web art works which will be presented simultaneously in Montreal and Quebec City, alongside the festival’s official selections.

All Internet surfers may follow the festival on-line where programming information, schedules and artists’ profiles will be available. Web art works, installations, on-line performances, Web Jams, an evening of electronic music, a concert dialogue with computers in real time, thematic conferences, artists’ presentations and workshops compose this exciting program convening all interested in the latest developments of digital art and the comprehension of the multiple possibilities that the Web offers.