Nomination of two ICC publications for the Ambassador of New Europe 2024 grand prize

Books "Socmodernism. Architecture of Central Europe during the Cold War“ and ” The Ukrainian Worlds of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth" have been nominated for the 12th edition of the prize awarded by the European Solidarity Centre in Gdańsk and the Jan Nowak Jeziorański College of Eastern Europe in Wroclaw.

The organizers of the competition honored two publications by the ICC Publishing House this year. The book by Dr. Łukasz Galusek and Dr. Michał Wiśniewski " Socmodernism. Architecture of Central Europe during the Cold War" accompanied the exhibition of the same title, presented at the ICC Gallery. It is a richly illustrated publication that takes the reader on a journey into the depths of socialist modernism, bringing this underrated and marginalized direction closer. It is a comprehensive and panoramic view of the architecture of socialist modernity in Central Europe, from Tallinn to Ljubljana and from divided Berlin to Bucharest and Skopje, which encourages reflection on this extremely colorful and interesting phenomenon.

The second of the nominated items is “The Ukrainian Worlds of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth” by Prof. Natalia Starchenko (translated by Tomasz Hodana and Katarzyna Kotyńska). This lively and colorful story of neighborly disputes, magnate conflicts, royal blackmail and privileges of the nobility was created by the author on the basis of court records from the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries in Rus. Interestingly, she looked at history from today's perspective, filtering events through the prism of contemporary issues and values. Prof. Starchenko's book is the first volume published in the new Ister series, edited by Dr. Łukasz Galusek, Dr. Paulina Małochleb and Bartosz Sadulski.

Awarded since 2011, the Ambassador of New Europe Prize honors the best publications published in Polish, which in an innovative way present historical processes or current experiences of Europeans, from the point of view of social relations and civic activities in the fields of culture, education, politics and economy. It honors publications that boldly and uncompromisingly fight stereotypes and clichés about Europe and its people, and help to understand its unique cultural code. The prize is the title of Ambassador of New Europe, a medal, a financial award and a diploma. The winner will be announced in early September 2025, and the award gala will be held on September 14 during the Gdańsk Book Fair.

Congratulations to the nominees!

More on the publications:
“Socmodernism. Architecture of Central Europe during the Cold War”
“The Ukrainian Worlds of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth”