Thu 19 Nov 2026, 6.30 - 8pm
| Monday | Closed |
| Tuesday | 11am–6pm |
| Wednesday | 11am–6pm |
| Thursday | 11am–9pm |
| Friday | 11am–6pm |
| Saturday | 11am–6pm |
| Sunday | 11am–6pm |
Access requirements
The Whitechapel Gallery is committed to making all of our events as accessible as possible for every audience member. Please contact access@whitechapelgallery.org if you would like to discuss a particular request and we will gladly discuss with you the best way to accommodate it.
Information about access on site at the gallery is available here https://www.whitechapelgallery.org/visit/access/
This includes information about Lift access; Borrowing wheelchairs & seating; Assistance Animals; Parking; Toilets and baby care facilities; Blind & Partially Sighted Visitors; Subtitles and transcripts; British Sign Language (BSL) and hearing induction loops; Deaf Messaging Service (DMS).
About This Event
This event takes place in the Assembly Room at Whitechapel Gallery, located on the ground floor.
This event lasts approximately 1.5 hours. There are no rest breaks currently scheduled during this event.
You must purchase a ticket to attend the event. If you require a Personal Assistant to support your attendance, we can offer them a place free of charge, but it must be arranged in advance.
If the ticket price affects your attendance, please email tickets@whitechapelgallery.org to be added to the guest list (no questions asked, but dependent on availability).
This event is suitable for those over the age of 16
We are unable to provide British Sign Language interpretation for this event
We are unable to provide live closed captioning or CART for this event.
Transport
To the best of our knowledge, there are no planned disruptions to local transport on the date of the event.
Our nearest train station – Aldgate East Underground (1 min) is not wheelchair accessible. The closest wheelchair accessible stations are Whitechapel (15 min), Shoreditch High Street (15 min) or Liverpool Street (15 min).
Free parking for Blue Badge holders is available at the top of Osborn Street in the pay and display booths for an unlimited period. Spaces are available on a first come, first served basis.
Live Recording
Please note: this event will be recorded and filmed for the Whitechapel Gallery Archive and future online publication.
Join us for a discussion about the relationship between politics, culture and dissent.
In recent years, artists and arts institutions have been at the centre of fiercely contested debates about their roles and responsibilities in relation to contemporary political developments. How might we analyse and understand these recent examples? What’s needed for cultural organisations to become platforms for dissent?
This special Art Futures event brings together two internationally acclaimed cultural figures to consider these vital issues: the artist and activist Tania Bruguera and the essayist and novelist Pankaj Mishra.
The discussion will be chaired by Gilane Tawadros, Director of Whitechapel Gallery. There will also be an opportunity for audience questions and contributions.
Art Futures is a major new Whitechapel Gallery series which looks at the role of public art institutions at a time of multiple crises, bringing together audiences with artists, writers, academics and policy-makers to collectively imagine alternative visions.
Art Futures is generously supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Tania Bruguera (Cuban, b. 1968) is an internationally renowned contemporary artist, activist, and cultural strategist. Her performances and social interventions focus on political power dynamics and their implications for social justice. Her art pushes boundaries by exploring how art can intersect with everyday political realities, aiming to empower individuals to become active citizens rather than passive spectators.
Bruguera introduced groundbreaking concepts like Arte Útil, Political Timing-Specific Art, Art For The Not Yet, and Est-ética. Through long-term projects like Cátedra Arte de Conducta, Immigrant Movement International, and Institute for Artivism Hannah Arendt (INSTAR), she has challenged institutional norms and reshaped collective memory, education, and politics. Tania Bruguera’s multifaceted contributions to the intersection of art and activism have left an indelible mark on the global cultural landscape.
Bruguera has been honored with numerous prestigious awards including the American Academy’s Rome Prize, Velázquez Prize, Prince Claus Laureate, Arnold Bode Prize, and Alpert Award. Her work has been showcased worldwide including the Tate Turbine Hall, Documenta, and the Venice Biennale. She had solo projects at MoMA, Queens Museum of Art, Centre d’Art Pompidou, and Hamburger Bahnhof Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, among others, and received honorary doctorates from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Maryland Institute College of Art.
Pankaj Mishra is an essayist and novelist, a long-time contributor to the New York Review of Books, London Review of Books and the New Yorker, and the author of several books, including From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia and Age of Anger: A History of the Present. His most recent books are Run and Hide: A Novel and The World After Gaza. He is a co-founder of Equator.org, a new multimedia platform that seeks to highlight non-western experiences and perspectives.
