The text for the Conference celebrating 90 years of UNIMA International on 5 and 6 July 2019.

First of all, I would like to apologize not to be with you in Prague for this important commemoration and birthday of our organization. I would like also to thank the Institute of Czech Theatre and Madam Nina Malikova to have thought to invite me for representing Belgium and, moreover, friendships for Czech Republic and the masters of this huge puppet history, whose our theatre is linked by my mother Biserka Assenova, follower of Dr. Jan Malik and Dr. Erik Kolar in DAMU in the 1960s. This year 2019, our theatre also celebrates 90 years and it is very special to think the relations between UNIMA and our theatre in Belgium and around the world, by the friendships of all big figures of Unima with our theatre and by our different festival organized since 1958. During all these important UNIMA figures, we can mention Jan Malik (1904-1980), Erik Kolar (1906-1976), Sergei Obratzsov (1901-1992), Max Jacob (1888-1967), Jan Bussel (1909-1985), Guido Van Deth (1913-1969). Many of these puppeteers and figures of UNIMA are present in our collections of our International Puppet Museum of Brussels.