David Baile, ISPA: “The Performing Arts Are About the Human Spirit”

David Baile is the Chief Executive Officer of the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA), a New York-based international network bringing together more than 550 performing arts leaders from 56 countries. Since joining ISPA in 2007, he has expanded the diversity of its membership and strengthened its leadership development initiatives. Before taking on this role, he spent two decades working in arts management and consultancy in Toronto across contemporary dance, theatre, literary arts, and music, including seven years as General Manager of Opera Atelier.

During the 30th edition of the Sibiu International Performing Arts Market (SIPAM), David Baile spoke about the role of cultural diplomacy, the qualities required of the next generation of arts leaders, and the importance of international exchange. He also reflected on Sibiu's place on the global festival map, the enduring value of live performance, and the ways in which technology and artificial intelligence are reshaping the performing arts.

 

Well, I think ultimately the soul of culture is the artist and their contribution, their creative vision. Their creative vision is really the soul of culture. My job, operating ISPA, is really to be one of many people and organizations that try to facilitate that soul having a voice and a presence in the broader world.

Well, cultural diplomacy has been around forever. I mean, it predates written history, really. But, you know, I think even in the last 75 or 100 years, it has played a really important role. I was just speaking at the opening, and I was referencing the important role culture played during the Cold War, you know, between the USSR and the United States and the rest of the world. And today, I think it is even more important as a real opportunity for empathy and greater understanding. You know, migration, immigration, and refugees have become huge issues globally. Every region is grappling with them. And, unfortunately, there has also been a huge push, you know, from the conservative right. And I think part of what culture does is give people greater insight into how cultures are similar, as opposed to different.

We just hosted our annual conference in Singapore, and the theme of the conference was 'Same, Same, but Different.' It is an Asian saying that expresses the idea that we are all very similar, but, yes, we also have to embrace those differences. And I think we need that as a global society, and culture helps us do that.

I think, putting aside Sibiu as a city right now, in terms of the festival, I am always amazed by the size of the festival. You know, I would go so far as to say it probably is as large as, if not larger than, Avignon, which is largely considered one of the world's greatest, if not biggest, festivals. So the scale of the Sibiu festival really surprised me when I first came here, but also the diversity of the work. You know, quite often, when you go to a festival in more of a regional location, you tend to get work primarily from that region or from within the country. And Sibiu has really embraced the international component of its mandate. So I have seen some incredible work, certainly from Africa and Asia, and really from all around the world.

I have to be honest. I am not an expert on the region at all. In fact, for our organization, as an international organization, it is actually kind of one of our challenges because we do not have a lot of membership from Central Europe or a lot of representation in terms of the work we are doing. And we are trying to change that, but it has been challenging. And I think part of it is, you know, financial resources. There is certainly limited government support for participating globally, I think, so that has affected my knowledge of it. I do know that I have a keen interest in learning more, which I guess is a good sign.

Yeah, it is a great question. You know, I get asked this question a lot, particularly by emerging leaders and the next generation: what are the qualities of good leadership? And I think my answer surprises people because I do think empathy is one of the key characteristics of a good leader. You know, ultimately, we are people, and you need to be able to appreciate and understand someone's perspective and the realities they are dealing with. It is an increasingly challenging world to operate in. So I think we need to support each other, as opposed to having a very rigid structure or rigid framework. The reality is that I am a baby boomer. I was born in 1960 so our approach to work as a generation is a lot different from that of current generations. But I think it is up to us to adapt and similarly, not only generationally, but also culturally. We hold these conferences every year around the world, and we are always working with different cultures. And the reality is that they are not going to learn how we work. We have to learn how they work. And I think, as I am always saying to my team, it is a huge opportunity because it is rare that we really get insights into how other people work and how a culture operates, and it is a huge benefit both professionally and personally.

If nothing else, you are bringing the work because you want an audience. You want people to see it, and the artists themselves want people to see it. So that is one of the most difficult things about being an artistic director or a festival director because you may have your personal preferences regarding the work you like, but you also have to keep that within a context or framework: is your audience going to like it? Or, conversely, are you trying to shift your audience? Are you trying to find a new audience by bringing in different work? So you have to be really clear about who your community is and who you want your community to be.

I think people know us most for our conferences because they are very visible and high-profile. So we hold a conference every year in New York in January, and then another mid-year in a different city, as I mentioned. But in between those conferences, we have our fellowship program, and that is an ongoing program in which we have somewhere between 50 and 60 fellows every year, literally from around the world. Usually, almost as many countries are represented in that fellowship. So they, as a cohort, stay connected throughout the year through ad hoc events, digital events, and in-person events. But we also have a number of initiatives that I call regional initiatives. So, for example, every August, including this upcoming August, we are at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We run a program called the ISPA Series at the Fringe and it is open to everyone attending in Edinburgh at the time, giving them some insight into the conversations we are having at ISPA. Again, these are usually global in nature, so they are placed in a global context. We just had a presence in Abidjan at MASA, we will also be in both Hong Kong and Shanghai in the fall, so we have ongoing programs and relationships with groups around the world through which we organize ad hoc events.

I think the performing arts, in many regards, provide us with that optimism. They also provide us with a reality check sometimes, too. But they are about the human spirit, and I think that is always part of the experience: live performance will always be with us. There is a lot of concern right now about the number of digital platforms and the proliferation of programs like TikTok. But, through live performance, you have true emotional engagement, and we, as humans, long for that human engagement. That may sound trite, but I believe it is true. Over the past century, from the emergence of radio to the development of television and film, and later during the pandemic, when we turned to Zoom and online entertainment, live performance has continued to endure. In most regions, live performance has returned to pre-pandemic levels. At the same time, people can still access work online, so digital platforms have expanded the experience rather than diminished it. I think that is important to remember.

I think AI is a huge component of what we are doing. I find it interesting that there was initially, and still is, a great deal of concern about AI, particularly regarding the contribution of the human intellect and spirit. The reality is that people will choose how they use AI, and artists will probably find the most interesting ways to incorporate it. But I do not think it necessarily spells our demise.

Of course, there are many issues, particularly around copyright and ownership, but we faced similar concerns with music and video streaming. There is no doubt that, in the early stages, there was a huge amount of theft. Let us face it, there still is, but there are also platforms that have democratized access.

Technology has had a profound effect on how the industry works. As I mentioned earlier, 50 years ago, artists went on tour to promote albums; now, it is the opposite. Technology has an impact, but that impact does not have to be negative.

I think people are genuinely excited to be here, SIPAM has been terrific in terms of bringing together a cross-section of presenters and artists from various regions of the world. I have had a great opportunity to run into some people I know whom I do not see all the time, but I have already had conversations, on my first morning, with people I had not met before that were very interesting. So I think people can come with high expectations, and those expectations will be met.