Transformative Bridges: Art and the Power of Essential Dialogue

Explore how the performing arts serve as a powerful catalyst for connection in our latest feature, "Transformative Bridges: Art and the Power of Essential Dialogue." ISPA members reflect on the role of the arts in bridging cultural, political, and social divides—locally and globally. From fostering understanding in divided communities to building international collaborations rooted in reciprocity, discover how the performing arts are creating spaces for dialogue, healing, and transformative change.

Don't miss the chance to continue this vital conversation in person—register now for the upcoming ISPA Congress in Lugano, themed "Arts and Social Political Change."

Quicklinks:

• Martha Hincapié-Charry, Plataforma Berlin 
• Thomas Hummel, Baltic Sea Philharmonic 
• Ronee Penoi, ArtsEmerson 

How do you see the performing arts specifically acting as a bridge to foster connection and understanding between diverse communities?

Today, more than ever, I believe the performing arts play a vital and regenerative role in maintaining the cohesion of our social fabric.

This is due not only to the increasing and often challenging presence of technology in our working lives—through phenomena such as AI—but also to its deep integration into our everyday lives and communities, reshaping our dynamics and choreographing our relationships.

Live arts—corporeality, the possibility of being face-to-face, of interacting—remind us that our sensoriality (our "software") and our bodies or skin (our "hardware") are not alien to us. The performing arts bring us back to our humanity. They allow states of vulnerability and empathy to emerge. They remind us that we do not merely have a body—we are bodies.

Movement is our first language. Our bodies are the space where our differences can enter into a state of reflection, enabling dialogues in which confrontation can transform into communion. These are basic concepts that are sometimes easy to forget. The performing arts bring us together, move us closer to one another, and offer tools to explore our differences by engaging our pre-verbal selves.

Can you provide a specific example of how your organization used the performing arts to create a “transformative bridge” in a community facing social or political challenges?

When I moved to Berlin, I encountered an almost insurmountable gap for Latin American creators. With very few exceptions, there were no platforms where our work could be spotlighted or enter into dialogue. In a city widely regarded as diverse and inclusive, we were invisible—present, but unseen.

Creating an independent, intersectional festival became a way to build bridges—spaces for reflection and recognition for artists working in their home territories across Abya Yala (Latin America) and within the diaspora (living in Spain, Portugal, Berlin, and Germany), all framed by a decolonial perspective.

Plataforma challenges perceptions that are often discriminatory or exclusionary. It calls out those who look the other way—or who simply have not had our bodies or contributions on their radar.

The social challenges faced in the Ibero-American region (which includes Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries in the Americas, as well as Spain and Portugal) are profound—and not unlike those faced in the so-called Global North. In Europe, it may be possible to theorize about geopolitical phenomena, but for us—natives of colonized territories—these are not metaphors. Our voices and bodies must be present in international discourses and communities, just as much as in local dynamics.

The real challenge for me has been to create transformative bridges where none existed—or where they existed as vertical structures. I have found myself building horizontal bridges—the kind I would have preferred to cross myself, not as a minority, but as an equal.

What unique challenges and opportunities arise when facilitating international collaborations aimed at promoting understanding through the arts?

The challenges are as significant as the opportunities.

Focusing on the body and its plural expressions—in dialogue with the transdisciplinary nature of the performing arts—offers a prism of perception and sensation rarely found in other public or collective spaces.

International collaborations become meaningful when both visible and invisible borders, along with hierarchical relationships, dissolve—when exchanges are based on mutual contribution.

The most pressing challenges involve social justice and representation—not just on stages, but within the power structures where decisions are made. Other challenges arise when wealth redistribution is overlooked, or when the rise of hate speech toward migration and forced displacement influences programming decisions.

At Plataforma Berlin, it has been groundbreaking to focus on the interconnectedness and interdependence of ancestral knowledge and the future of human and more-than-human bodies. Issues such as climate chaos and the interaction between visible and invisible worlds are given space.
Being able to reflect trans disciplinarily on the existential crises of humanity—our relationship with nature, the transmutation of colonial wounds—has enabled the emergence of spaces where art heals and regenerates.

Raising awareness of the reciprocal relationship we must hold with the planet, while spotlighting Indigenous artists from Mexico, Bolivia, or the Amazon rainforest, is part of Plataforma’s DNA.

Reciprocity is not possible without climate justice, equity, and dignified conditions for artists. Nor can it flourish where allyship and inclusion are performative rather than foundational to institutions or artistic efforts.

How can performing arts organizations actively create spaces for dialogue that transcend cultural and political boundaries?

Organizations with cultural or political agendas must listen more deeply—to artists, both local and migrant—to their contexts, needs, and visions, which are not always aligned with those of institutional infrastructures, even if they share the same environment.

Artists often exist in precarious, vulnerable conditions that remain invisible. Supporting well-funded processes that bring visibility, growth, and tools for breaking the glass ceilings imposed by precarity or limiting cultural policies is not just important—it is urgent.

In Berlin today, the cultural and political landscape is experiencing an unprecedented crisis. Cancellation, censorship, budget cuts, mental health struggles, suicide risks, and a pervasive sense of instability are threatening the performing arts ecosystem. Mid-career artists are leaving the city, considering career changes, and losing faith in the future of the local arts scene. Is the Berliner dream crumbling?

Over the past two years, it has become increasingly clear that funded infrastructures have failed to create a sustainable future for artists. Independent cultural workers lack the foundations needed to support and project long-term processes.

Do people now turn to the performing arts to access the dialogue and perspective they no longer find in politics? Are they seeking to be moved, touched, to transcend their own perceptions and reflect on familiar or foreign issues? Are they willing to shift from comfort into confrontation—to question internalized paradigms? Or are they merely seeking entertainment?

How can performing arts organizations be transformative—making a tender, jolting, or life-changing impact—when political landscapes are eroding local cultural dynamics?

Can you provide a specific example of how your organization used the performing arts to create a 'transformative bridge' in a community facing social or political challenges?

One inspiring example is our Baltic Sea Philharmonic’s "Baltic Sea Music" project. Uniting musicians from across the Baltic Sea region, the initiative celebrated a shared musical heritage while highlighting the diversity of its cultures. A newly commissioned work, blending folk traditions with classical elements, formed the heart of the project. Alongside concerts, the program included workshops, masterclasses, and outreach activities that connected artists with local communities. 

What unique challenges and opportunities arise when facilitating international collaborations aimed at promoting understanding through the arts?

Facilitating international collaborations in the arts presents both unique challenges and valuable opportunities. Differences in language, communication styles, and artistic traditions demand adaptability and cultural sensitivity. Logistical hurdles—such as coordinating across time zones, managing travel, and navigating funding constraints—can further complicate the process. Yet, these collaborations also open doors to fresh artistic perspectives, innovative practices, and lasting global networks. They provide a platform to showcase diverse cultural expressions and, most importantly, foster mutual understanding, empathy, and cooperation across borders.

How do you see the performing arts specifically acting as a bridge to foster connection and understanding between diverse communities?

In my experience, successful bridge-building happens at every stage of the artistic process. It is reflected when the artists create the work, in how the work is culturally held at a host institution, and how the work is marketed, received, and engaged by audiences. Diverse communities are made up of individuals with biases, curiosities, ambitions, and wounds. Being in an industry that is centered on ‘liveness,’ and being in-person with one another, we have a unique opportunity to see each other’s humanity differently. While we can’t control what the outcome might be when we introduce diverse communities – whether backstage, in the audience, or in the rehearsal room – but beginning with inquiry and respect goes a long way. Starting with a few trusted individuals and identifying cultural blind spots is key (i.e. there are taboos during Chinese New Year, or that smudging for Indigenous artists is meaningful in a new space).

Can you provide a specific example of how your organization used the performing arts to create a 'transformative bridge' in a community facing social or political challenges?

Often Indigenous peoples in the U.S are thought of a racial category, and not as citizens of sovereign nations. This is part of the ongoing erasure we see in the U.S. of Indigenous history and peoples. Given this, it was a meaningful moment for ArtsEmerson to welcome Wampanoag Nation’s work ‘We Are the Land’ in fall 2023. This work not only bridged Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences, but also deepened solidarity between Black, Indigenous, and Afro-Indigenous peoples, as Black and Indigenous communities have been intertwined in Boston’s history long before 1776. In the work, Wampanoag tribal citizens shared over 400 years of history from pre-contact to present day. We hosted free Play Reading Book Clubs so anyone in Boston could gather (with a teaching artist and other Bostonians) to read and study the play in advance at a local library. This brought buy-in and excitement that we are positively accountable for one another, and in uplifting each other’s histories. Native people are still here- and nothing says that like a curtain call of Wampanoag people! These are the same people who are named in the Thanksgiving myth. This work was done only a few years after the Wampanoag were threatened with losing their federal tribal status – a present-day land grab- so this affirmation and visibility was key. Bridge-building can often look like American myth-breaking.

It is also worth noting that this work initially came to be because of the curiosity of Theatre Royal Plymouth in Plymouth, UK. Their eight years of work with Wampanoag Nation encompassed deep-learning and process-pivoting in the face of centuries of assumptions about Native people, ingrained colonial practice, and harm. That ‘We Are the Land’ happened in both Plymouth UK and then hours from Plymouth, Massachusetts – and is still touring - is a testament to the individuals in all of those institutions and communities who wanted to build a future that looks different from our past.