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21 May, 2026, 18.00<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The International Cultural Centre, in collaboration with the Mieroszewski Centre, invites you to a launch event for the book \u201cInnocent content and other traps: Ukrainian essays on identity\u201d . This is a collection of texts by contemporary Ukrainian authors who reflect on memory, identity, language and culture. They raise questions about appropriated cultural heritage and traces of imperial narratives, as well as the role of literature, art and cultural institutions during wartime. The event will provide an opportunity to discuss contemporary Ukraine as told in its own voice \u2013 beyond simplifications and ready-made interpretations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The discussion will feature Prof. Katarzyna Koty\u0144ska, Sofija Riabczuk and Bohdana Romancowa. The event will be moderated by Joanna Majewska-Grabowska. For Polish readers, the book and the discussion will not only be an opportunity to engage with Ukrainian intellectual thought, but also a chance to gain a better understanding of the experiences, historical references and cultural codes that shape contemporary Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Published by the Mieroszewski Centre, this book is about memory and identity, but also about how culture becomes a space for reclaiming narratives. The authors of the essays within examine both the legacy of the past and the experience of the present. They ask why the Kiev Psalter is still in St Petersburg, how and why Russia removed Ukrainian cultural heritage, what Soviet monumental propaganda left behind, and how the language of the empire shaped the way of thinking about reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the book \u201cInnocent content and other traps: Ukrainian essays on identity\u201d is not only devoted to history or war. It is also a story about contemporary Ukrainian culture and its resilience. The publication highlights, amongst other things, museums which, during the war, become places of support and community. It discusses literature operating under a state of emergency and what Ukrainians have been reading since 24 February 2022. It speaks volumes about a culture that no longer wishes to be told in someone else\u2019s language. The essays collected in this volume are united by a distrust of simple answers. It is a book about challenging stereotypes, dismantling ready-made interpretations and reclaiming the right to one\u2019s own narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The publication was produced as part of the Polish-Ukrainian School of Translation \u201cWords to Words\u201d \u2013 a project by the Mieroszewski Centre for young translators.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA conversation about contemporary Ukraine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The book \u201cInnocent content and other traps: Ukrainian essays on identity\u201d <\/h2>\n\n\n\n