ISPA’s New York Conference provided delegates with their first in-person event in three years. The happiness of being together was hard to ignore despite the many challenges facing the industry, as Juliette Barber discovered
In its first Congress of the year, ISPA declared the “Urgency of Now”, bringing together over 500 figures from across the international performing arts industry to discuss the opportunities and challenges it faces as we move beyond the pandemic era and into a new artistic age.
ISPA’s keynote speech was given by Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta, Director General of Ukraine’s National Art and Culture Museum. She had travelled from Ukraine to appear at the Congress and was a highlight of the January event that certainly captured its overarching theme. Met with a five-minute standing ovation from attendees, Ostrovska-Liuta’s appearance at ISPA provided a stark reminder of the intersection of the arts and politics, highlighting the importance of the sector as a vehicle to metabolise even the most horrifying of human experiences. Although Ostrovska-Liuta’s speech did not shy away from the realities of war, describing frequent staff meetings conducted in the basement as a result of bombing threats, she was keen to highlight that artists in Ukraine continue to exhibit to the public, feeling that their artistic expression provides a vehicle to understand this “moment of history”.
The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic was also evident throughout ISPA’s January Congress, with organisers using the “Urgency of Now” theme to prompt conversations about how the industry can seize upon this post-pandemic moment to drive systematic change. When speaking with ISPA CEO David Baile he was particularly keen to use the Congress to call on the performing arts industry to take stock of the longstanding issues it faces, instead of rushing back to the way things were before the pandemic. He urged industry leaders not to oversimplify the last three years, framing the pandemic as merely the tip of the iceberg in terms of the challenges facing the industry. Gender and racial inequalities across the arts were brought to the fore as a result of #MeToo and the Black Lives Matter movements but Baile repeatedly stated that its roots lie well before the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, unlike many industry conferences, the experience of the pandemic did not lead ISPA to adopt a “hybrid” event model, instead taking an active decision to break from the online world of COVID-19. In its place, ISPA decided to focus on creating intimate settings for discussion and debate, such as small group break-out sessions and their “Coffee and Cocktails” networking sessions. The decision proved successful, with attendees appreciative of the opportunity to attend both small roundtable discussions and larger cross-sectoral networking sessions, seeming to enjoy the opportunity to reconnect after years of online events.
Another major theme of the Congress was the technological revolution facing the sector and a dedicated panel discussed the role of digital in the arts. Conversations centred around the unequal access to new and emerging technologies within the performing arts, with programmers in the “Global North” keen to embrace digital gimmicks without understanding the barriers to digital access in other regions. The discussion also addressed the variable impact of technology across specific sectors, with countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo arguing that “opera by definition is analogue”. Although he understands the opportunities presented by digital technologies, especially for audiences to gain greater access to performers, he highlighted that this comes with the caveat of a fundamentally changed relationship between the artist and the audience. However, with technology set to remain a central feature of the performing arts sector, hopefully the next ISPA Congress can embrace a forward-thinking model for the future.
ISPA’s 27-30 June 2023 Congress in Manchester will shift its focus to the future of the performing arts industry, under the banner of “Co-creating the Future”. It hopes that this theme will provide a platform to discuss collaboration across the industry, explore answers to the sectoral challenges presented at the January Congress and ultimately provide a blueprint for a brighter future.
Although ISPA’s January Congress certainty captured the “Urgency of Now”, leaving attendees with much to think about, its first event of the year was also characterised by something else entirely, an overwhelming feeling of joy.
To book your tickets at ISPA’s Manchester Conference, visit ISPA International Society for the Performing Arts