Dear Participants of the SIBMAS conference 2022 in Warsaw,
We hope you are all doing well.

We realize that you have been waiting a while for a sign from us regarding the further planning of the conference in June and we would like to apologize very much for the delay. Unfortunately, this situation was out of our hands.

The Theatre Institute (P.T.I) in Warsaw has been planning this SIBMAS conference for a very long time under unprecedented difficulties. We were very keen on an in person meeting with you, shaking hands with each other, talking, and sharing our experiences as a community once again.

In the run up to planning of the conference, no one could have imagined the difficult circumstances that hampered our organizational progress of the conference over the last couple of years. First came Covid-19 and double-crossed our plans, caused tremendous delays and uncertainties. Then, the P.T.I, unaccustomed to thinking about the war, had to respond daily to the challenge of helping their Ukrainian neighbours, which considerably delayed the further organization and securing the funding of the event. All energies and funds went first to the refugees. Poland has taken in more than 2.9 million people.

Fortunately, in the last days we have obtained the necessary funds to organize this conference. We are truly grateful for this and look forward to tackling the final preparations quickly.

We are aware that for many of you, the lack of definitive information was incomprehensible, and we are truly sorry for this.
Today we can assure you that there is a warm Polish welcome waiting for you in Warsaw! The political situation in Poland is stable, most of the refugees have found their place among Polish families or have left further, to the west of Europe. The situation in Poland is still safe. All acts of war take place far from our borders.

We would like to cordially invite you to Warsaw, an inspiring and culturally rich city.
You will shortly find all information regarding registration, programmes as well as accommodation on the conference website. The conference will take place in a hybrid way, and we cannot wait to welcome participants both online and in person in Warsaw. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the conference coordinators, coordination.sibmas@instytut-teatralny.pl .

With best wishes,

Elzbieta Wrotnowska-Gmyz, Director Polish Theatre Institute, Warsaw.
&
Nic Leonhardt and Alan R. Jones, Presidents of SIBMAS.