Book launch of “Innocent content and other traps”. Events in Kraków and Warsaw
How is contemporary Ukrainian culture attempting to reinterpret its own history, memory and identity in the wake of the Soviet era and the war? The essays collected in this volume explore literature, art, architecture, language, museums and popular culture, presenting Ukraine beyond simplifications and entrenched ways of thinking.
The launch of the book “Innocent content and other traps: Ukrainian essays on identity” will be accompanied by two premiere events in Kraków and Warsaw. The discussions will be inspired by the texts collected in the volume, which explore memory and identity, the language of empire, appropriated cultural heritage, literature and culture functioning in wartime, and contemporary Ukraine told in its own voice.
Kraków
21 May (Thursday), 6:00 PM
International Cultural Centre, Rynek Główny 25
Participants:
- Joanna Majewska-Grabowska (moderator)
- Katarzyna Kotyńska
- Sofia Riabchuk
- Bohdana Romantsova
Event partner: International Cultural Centre
Warsaw
23 May (Saturday), 5:00 PM
Ukrainian House, 1 Ludwik Zamenhof Street
Participants:
- Sasza Iwaniuk (moderator)
- Katarzyna Kotyńska
- Sofia Riabchuk
- Bohdana Romantsova
- Ostap Slyvynsky
Event partner: Ukrainian House
Sofia Riabchuk is the coordinator of the Ukrainian programme in the Education Department of the National Museum in Warsaw. She previously worked with the National Art Museum of Ukraine and Mystetskyi Arsenal. She is the author of texts and cultural projects focused on museum education and culture.
Bohdana Romantsova is an editor, literary critic, and essayist. She teaches literary courses, collaborates with Ukrainian educational platforms and the Polish magazine Dwutygodnik, and has published texts in volumes including Dictionary of War and War 2022.
Ostap Slyvynsky is a poet, translator, essayist, and literary scholar. He is the author of several poetry collections and the initiator of the Dictionary of War project. He translates Polish literature into Ukrainian and has received numerous literary and translation awards.
Katarzyna Kotyńska is a translator of Ukrainian literature, a Ukrainian studies scholar, and a literary researcher. She is a professor at the Jagiellonian University, recipient of the 2023 Drahoman Prize, author of Lviv: Rereading the City, and translator of major Ukrainian authors.
“Innocent content and other traps: Ukrainian essays on identity” was created as part of the Polish-Ukrainian School of Translation “Words to Words”, a project by the Mieroszewski Centre for young translators.
