{"value"=>"<p>The Institute grew out of a discussion held in August 1946 between Julian Huxley, Director General of Unesco, and Maurice Kurtz, in charge of Unesco's theatre affairs. Huxley and Kurtz took the idea to the first General Conference of Unesco in Paris in November 1946, where members of the sub-commission on creative arts, including Archibald MacLeish of the U.S., Francois Mauriac of France, and J.B. Priestley of the U.K., developed the notion to \"link large groups of the world's peoples\" through theatre's \"universal expression of mankind.\"</p> <p>To draft a charter, 25 theatre experts were invited to gather for a week in Paris from July 28-August 1, 1947. Among them were Jean-Louis Barrault, Tyrone Guthrie, Lillian Hellman, George Freedley, and Rosamond Gilder. With Priestley acting as Provisional Chairman, ITI's Charter was formally adopted during a Statutory Congress in Prague June 28-July 3, 1948. Maurice Kurtz was elected the first Secretary General. Although twenty countries were represented, only eight had voting delegations. These eight fully formed National Centers signed the constitutive act.</p>"}