Culture Commons: institutions, networks, and other forms of cooperation | International Forum on the Sustainability of Culture
How — and where — does it actually make sense for small cultural organisations to hold more in common?
On the 25th and 26th of September 2026 (25th only in NYC), the International Forum on the Sustainability of Culture returns for its second edition. An international network of interconnected hubs, labs and territory-focused roundtables, the NYC node is hosted in New York by Prime Produce, the Cybernetics Library, and Wikimedia NYC. This node gathers artists, thinkers, and cultural practitioners for a relaxed but active working session on the structure and governance of commons.
The format is convivial by design: following a lecture by Silvia Federici, a shared lunch invites everyone to think together, and a smaller streamed conversation then brings table representatives together to report the discussion back to the online audience. Bringing together some of the small, independent associations and institutions that make up New York's cultural fabric, the session asks not whether commoning is desirable in the abstract, but under what concrete conditions — and between whom — it can meaningfully grow.
Schedule:
11:00am - 11:45am: Silvia Federici livestreamed talk
11:45am - 12:30pm: Patricia Lannes and Roxana Fabius in Conversation (in-person)
Patricia Lannes, of Uruguayan origin, is founder and director of CALTA21, a US initiative connecting museums and communities to strengthen the civic and cultural capital of immigrants through visual literacy.
Roxana Fabius is a curator and arts manager who directs the Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales in Montevideo, has led institutions on both sides of the Atlantic and works at the intersection of art and feminist theory.
Together they ask what South America can teach about commoning, and how museums might become spaces people help shape rather than merely visit.
Followed by Q&A and discussion.
12:30pm-1:00pm Brainstorming Luncheon (Sponsored by Wikimedia NYC): Participants will break up into groups to discuss a set of prompts about stewardship of commons, governance, conflict, and more.
1:00pm – 1:40pm:🌍 International connection · Roundtable discussion
Speakers: David Isaac Hecht (Prime Produce, Cybernetics Library, Wikimedia NYC, Bri Griffin (Rhizome), Gavin Marcus (ABC No Rio), and special guests from the audience!
Includes Q&A and discussion.