Hermann Parzinger, President of the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SPK, Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation), said: “This award clearly demonstrates the high international esteem in which the Ibero-American Institute is held. As an interdisciplinary information, research, and cultural center and as a mediator in scientific and cultural exchange, it enjoys the highest recognition.”
“It is a special honor for the Ibero-American Institute to be recognized by an international association such as the Asociación Iberoamericana de la Comunicación (ASICOM). We would like to thank our employees and all our cooperation partners, sponsors, and friends of the IAI,” emphasizes Barbara Göbel, Director of the Institute. She will accept the award, a sculpture by Spanish artist Hugo Fontela, today at the University of Oviedo (Spain).
The Asociación Iberoamericana de la Comunicación (ASICOM) works together with partners and sponsors such as the Mexican daily newspaper El Universal to promote exchange, cooperation, and networking in the Ibero-American context. Once a year, ASICOM and the University of Oviedo honor several institutions and individuals for outstanding work in this field. Previous winners include Margarita Zavala, wife of former Mexican President Felipe Calderón (2011), the Spanish blind organization ONCE, and Mexican journalist Jacobo Zabludovsky (2010).
The Ibero-American Institute houses a knowledge archive with the largest European special library for the Ibero-American cultural area. It is also a place of knowledge production, knowledge transfer, and cultural translation. The IAI is part of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which, with its museums, libraries, archives, and research institutions, is one of the world's most important cultural institutions.