The Sibiu International Performing Arts Market, now in its 31st edition, will take place from June 24th to 27th. Coinciding with the Sibiu International Theatre Festival (FITS), this event creates a “dream and grow” space in the performing arts sector, where creative individuals come together to exchange ideas, concepts, and contacts face-to-face. It emphasizes networking events with one-to-one meetings and pitch sessions. The coordinator of the Sibiu Performing Arts Market, Oana Marin, discusses the news and guests of this edition.
Oana Marin: The Sibiu International Performing Arts Market (SIPAM), supported by the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, acts as a catalyst for the development of artistic projects by facilitating meetings and collaborations between artists, managers, and cultural institutions worldwide. The existence of the market is primarily due to the symbolic capital of the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, which Constantin Chiriac, the president of both structures and director of the National Theatre Radu Stanca Sibiu, has successfully directed. This is complemented by the work of a small yet enthusiastic team that efficiently handles all the challenges such an event brings, along with the support of the market’s permanent collaborators.
For this year’s edition, the focus is on diversity, innovation, and collaboration. A diverse program including conferences and mentoring sessions has been designed to support the professional development of young artists and emerging managers. Led by industry experts, these sessions offer participants the opportunity to learn directly from professionals, promoting the transfer of knowledge and best practices.
Furthermore, the aim is to create an inclusive and fair environment to ensure all participants have access to resources and opportunities. The participation fee has been eliminated, and a curatorial selection process has been adopted to evaluate projects based on quality and innovation criteria. This reflects a strong commitment to equal opportunities and democratizing access to cultural platforms.
Moreover, particular emphasis is placed on networking events, including one-to-one meetings and pitch sessions, to facilitate interaction between participants and potential partners such as international festivals, theatres, and agencies. The goal is to create a conducive environment for initiating and developing new collaborations and projects. This strategy aims to overcome traditional barriers in artistic collaboration by promoting intercultural and interdisciplinary dialogue.
What important guests will be present in Sibiu?
Oana Marin: This year, we are delighted to have renowned personalities from the field of performing arts participating, including festival directors and representatives of prestigious organizations, networks, foundations, and universities. Among them are leaders of major fringe festivals such as Edinburgh and Avignon, the Manchester International Festival, a biennial international festival focused on new and original works, as well as ISPA and APAP, two major organizations in the performing arts sector.
On June 24th, during the “Festivals in Dialogue” event, Shona McCarthy, the Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and Harold David, co-president of the Off Avignon Festival, will discuss the role of these structures on the global artistic scene. On June 25th and 26th, Lisa Richards Toney, President and CEO of the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA), Kee Hong Low, Chief Creative Officer of Factory International and the Manchester International Festival, Alicia Adams, Vice President for International Programming and Dance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and Chair of the Board of ISPA, and Anthony Sargent, International Artistic Advisor, will share management strategies and discuss strategic alliances that ensure the sustainable future of the performing arts sector.
Additionally, on June 26th, special emphasis will be placed on cultural and heritage tourism. Addressing this topic reflects an awareness of the importance of integrating cultural tourism into urban and regional development strategies, providing a framework for exploring synergies between cultural heritage and technological innovation.
In addition to the ones mentioned, directors or representatives from prominent festivals, organizations, or universities such as the Sharm el-Sheikh International Theatre Festival for Youth, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, the Hopkins Center of the Arts at Dartmouth, the Hwaseong City Cultural Foundation, FEVER, Circostrada, the China Shanghai International Arts Festival, the Istanbul Theatre Festival, Trans Europe Halles, CINARS, SiDance, and many others will be attending. These are just a few of the guests of the Market, with the full list available on our website.
Pitch Project
10 shows have been selected for the Pitch Project session and will be presented to the jury on June 25th. It is the first year in which the selection and organization method has changed, as Oana Marin tells us: “The project presentation session has always been part of the International Performing Arts Market in Sibiu, but this year we changed the organization method. Until last year, participation in the Market required a registration fee. Starting this year, we decided to make participation free, but the selection process is now curated. The submitted projects are evaluated and selected by an international jury composed of experts and representatives from prestigious structures in the performing arts field. This change aims to ensure a high level of quality and relevance of the presented projects and to provide an equal opportunity to all participants. The Pitch Project session allows artists and companies to present their ideas and projects to an audience of industry professionals, investors, and enthusiasts. We expect this session to be a place where new and exciting ideas are born, reflecting current trends in the performing arts.
Through this new structure and increased local participation, we aim for the Pitch Project session to become a central point of the Market, a place where projects can be presented, discussed, and appreciated. Thus, SIPAM will continue to be an incubator of creativity in the performing arts. This new structure provides a platform for exploring and testing innovative ideas in an international framework, facilitating constructive dialogue among various cultural actors and promoting genuine equal opportunities in accessing resources and opportunities in the performing arts field.”
Lisa Richards Toney, The president and executive director of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals – APAP, was part of the jury that selected the 10 performances: „The selection process was fun! It was enjoyable to view clips from the many submissions, to read reviews, and connect the dots to distill what pieces, in my view, were necessary — necessary to continue a rallying for a deepened appreciation for the performing arts — and all the professionals who work to make it happen; for the amalgamation of diversity, welcomed relevance and refreshing vulnerability; for the story that the artists fought to tell and why that was in some cases, an act of resistance; for the intellectual and artistic rigor that show our depth; and, for the innovative structures and formats that artists and producers decided on to both satisfy the creative vision and match the expectations of audiences that we are all working hard to lure back into theatres (post-pandemic) across the world.
Lastly, it was astonishing to bear witness to spectrum of color, tone, mood — from jovial lightheartednesss to gut-wrenching heart-ache — that is the human experience. The works being showcased at the Sibiu Festival run the gamet of humanity.
Over the long term, participants can expect to see the results from their foundation — and the important role that this festival contributes — that will have been built from all the work that makes up presenting, booking, and touring.”
What is the relevenace of the Sibiu Performing Arts Market and of its face to face meetings, in the context of the digital world we live in?
Alicia Adams (Vice-president for International Programming and Dance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C., and President of the Administrative Council of the al International Society for the Performing Arts), SUA: The Sibiu International Performing Arts Market is a gift to the cultural community. It allows for commerce to take place, for people to gain knowledge about the field and to interact with others in person. People to people exchange is one of the most important things that can happen. And, it happens at this market.
Anthony Sargent (International Artisitic Counselor) : As so often in life, the experience of polar opposites helps us find a pragmatically beneficial place on the continuum between them. We have to pinch ourselves to remember how fast the digital and online revolutions have happened. The proliferation of smartphones is little more than 15 years old, as is the rollout of 4G in the early 2010s and 5G in the late 2010s and early 2020s, dramatically increasing internet speed and connectivity, enabling the growth of mobile apps and streaming services and adding new content potential to social media and opening the door to the added potency of AI.
Before 2010 almost all artistic dialogues involved travel and in-person connections. Then came the Covid pandemic and almost all business was necessarily conducted online, and our working practices and the digital facilities and networks that increasingly facilitated them were transformed almost literally overnight. Now we live in a world where we can make choices. Sometimes we chose to use the enormously expanded digital opportunities to work collaboratively without travel. Sometimes we prefer to come together for the invaluable opportunity of seeing things together, talking together, unleashing all the creative opportunities that follow when creative people are in the same place at the same time as at the Sibiu International Performing Arts Market.
Lisa Richards Toney (President and Executive Chair of the Association of Professionals in the Performing Arts – APAP): The opportunity for European and international presenters to see (through showcase performances) what’s out on the market internationally and meet with (in person) the professionals behind the show, the artists, or those responsible for programming for the venue, and see the work itself — is critical to the success of their markets. The performing arts is a live arts industry and while technology has come a long way in augmenting the meeting experience and even the performance experience, nothing is more impactful than meeting face-to-face as we are inherently relational as humans and this business thrives on people-to-people engagement. I imagine for this region, where there are a number of small countries neighboring one another, or as is the case for some others — not as many close neighboring countries with active touring, building a tour route that is economically viable can be a challenging, especially in this environment–rising costs for travel, personnel, and visas.
This changed environment in the field makes opportunities like the Sibiui International Performing Arts Market very important for business opportunity and success, cultural diplomacy and exchange, as well as our collective need to continuously advocate for the industry, the professionals who with within it, and the intrinsic values that the performing arts are known to imbue for the cultural well-being of society.
