Michał Merczyński is the director of the National Audiovisual Institute (NInA) in Warsaw. He is joining the team of presenters of the Atelier for Young Festival Managers for the first time in IZMIR 2011. “Festivals incite a wider audience to more open forms of participation in culture, rendering such festivals ‘theatre celebrations’, whose protagonists are not only the performing artists, but also (or most of all) thousands of spectators and co-authors,” explained Michał Merczyński in a presentation of MALTA International Theatre Festival in Poznań. ‏ Michał Merczyński is a culture animator, producer, art manager and director of many cultural institutions and festivals including: the Polish Film Institute, Rozmaitości Theatre, Henryk Wieniawski Musical Society and Tzadik Poznań Festival, the Nostalgia Festival and the Festival of Dialogue of Four Cultures. He is an expert within the European Union Culture Programme Culture 2007-2013. He has been a director of the MALTA International Theatre Festival since 1991. Since 2005, he has been the director of the National Audiovisual Institute (NInA) – an institution created by the Ministry of Culture in Poland. Currently, he is the head of the Cultural Programme of the Polish EU Presidency, as well as the European Culture Congress. Michał Merczyński is one of the eight renowned festival managers from all over the world participating in IZMIR 2011. Under the coordination of Hugo De Greef they will guide the participants throughout the seven days of the Atelier. In the run-up of the Atelier we present you Robyn Archer (Australia), Hugo De Greef (Belgium), Rose Fenton (United Kingdom), Nele Hertling (Germany), Michał Merczyński (Poland), Jonathan Mills (United Kingdom) and Fruzsina Szép (Hungary). Keep an eye! More info on the Atelier IZMIR 2011 at: http://efa-aef.eu/en/activities/atelier/izmir/