The world faces unprecedented challenges to human values and freedoms. The Global Arts Pact (GAP), is an international consortium of eighteen associations activated to contest ongoing attacks on Arts and Humanities, which are symptomatic of the systemic violence and oppression we witness daily. We invite you to gather for the THIRD of three Town Hall events for 2026.

The theme of the GAP Town Hall#3 is ‘Institutional Control of Cultural Knowledge’, and the event takes place online on 24 October 2026 (9PM Manila/GMT+8) as part of the Performance Studies International (PSi) Constellate Programme.

The discussion delves into the control of institutions that produce and preserve knowledge and cultural memory like archives, libraries, statues, museums, memorials, etc., by means of political control exercised by cuts to budgets, closing of exhibits, dismantling of displays, removal of statues, cuts to research opportunities, and others. This not only threatens the existence and operation of these institutions and puts the welfare and freedoms of those working in and with them at risk. It also constitutes an overt act of control over the production, display and circulation of cultural knowledge, posing much constraint on artistic work and scholarship that depend on the resources of these institutions. Join the GAP Town Hall event to listen, share, and discuss how we, as a global community, can build a movement to oppose and take action.

The format of the town hall is that of an open discussion with speakers and a moderator, ideally lasting for a maximum of 1.5 to two hours only. The speakers are each given 7 minutes to speak on the topic; followed by a 20-minute exchange amongst them; and the last segment is a discussion with the rest of the participants. The participants may speak directly and/or contribute through posts on a Padlet page visible to all.

Our speakers are Vanesa Cotroneo (IFTR), Marina Kotzamani (Aegean Network), Nic Leonhardt (SIBMAS), and Aslihan Senel (PSi). Moderator will be Rye Gentleman (TLA).

Here is the Zoom Link to the event:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/H2TCBSyAQUq29N1wrGGLnw

Meeting ID: 920 4503 4806, Passcode: 877875

For further information on GAP, please see our statement of intent released on the websites of our organizations like the following: PSi: https://www.psi-web.org; IFTR: https://iftr.org/about/globalarts- pact-gap/; ISTR: https://istr.ie/global-arts-pact-world-theatre-day-2026/; DramaHE:https://dramahe.ac.uk/activity/we-are-proud-partners-in-the-global-arts-pact/