Communicating the Arts: Building trust across a divided world

Audience behaviour is shifting, and artificial intelligence is changing how culture is discovered and shared. At Communicating the Arts 2026, international cultural leaders gather in Ottawa–Gatineau to explore what it will take for cultural organisations to earn, and keep, public trust

For more than 25 years, Communicating the Arts (CTA) has brought cultural professionals together to examine the questions shaping the future of the sector. Co-founded with Tate in 2000, CTA was created as a place for cultural leaders to step outside their institutions, exchange experiences with international peers and return with ideas they can put into practice.

From 13 to 16 October 2026, the conference heads to Ottawa–Gatineau for its 30th edition. Around 200 cultural professionals and 60 international experts will come together across Canada’s national cultural institutions under the theme “Building Trust, Bridging Worlds”.

Trust is a particularly urgent question for the cultural sector. Audiences are changing how they discover and experience culture. Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping communication. Institutions are being asked to demonstrate their impact, respond to crises and remain relevant to the communities they serve.

CTA 2026 will look at these challenges through four areas: Values and Mission, Measuring Impact, Digital Transformation and Crisis Management.

Ideas to take back to your organisation

CTA is designed around exchange rather than passive listening. Across three full conference days, delegates will move between keynotes, case studies, workshops and collective discussions, hearing how organisations around the world are responding to challenges that many cultural leaders already face.

The programme crosses disciplines, bringing museums, performing arts institutions and cultural businesses into the same conversation. For professionals working in the performing arts, this means an opportunity to look beyond their own part of the sector while hearing directly from peers in music, opera and live performance.

Among this year’s speakers, Bonnie M. Goodman, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications at The Music Center in Los Angeles, will examine how cultural organisations can understand and communicate their impact beyond attendance figures. Jonathan Courtney, Head of Digital at AKA, will share research into how generative AI is changing audience discovery and what this means for organisations seeking to maintain direct relationships with their audiences. They join an international programme spanning cultural leadership, audience engagement, communication and institutional change.

A conference experienced through its cities

For CTA, the location is central to how each edition is experienced. Rather than spending the week in a single conference venue, delegates will experience the cultural landscape of Ottawa–Gatineau through its institutions.

The conference begins on the evening of 13 October at the Canadian Museum of History, with an opening keynote from cultural strategist and author András Szántó, followed by a performance and reception.

Delegates will also have the opportunity to take part in guided cultural visits, including the National Arts Centre, National Gallery of Canada, Canadian War Museum, Library and Archives Canada and Korean Cultural Centre Canada.

Evening events continue the conversations outside the formal programme, giving delegates time to meet peers from around the world and build relationships across institutions and disciplines.

Why Ottawa, why now?

The value of bringing 200 professionals together lies not only in presenting successful case studies, but also in creating space for candid conversations about what is changing inside cultural organisations.

How do you retain public trust during a crisis? How should institutions respond when technology changes audience behaviour? How can impact be demonstrated beyond visitor or ticket numbers? And how can cultural organisations remain connected to their missions while expectations around them evolve?

These are the questions CTA 2026 brings people together to confront, from different perspectives around the world.