by Marzanna (Mana) Antoniak and Anna Maria Strzalkowska.
Meet some of the Group:
is a culture animator, community development worker, and a language teacher with a special interest in working with people who have had little experience of formal education.
Originally from Poland, she made Scotland her home in 2008, and through her involvement with multi-ethnic communities and professional training, she developed a strong belief in unbounded communication and inclusive diversity as community-making powers.
As the cofounder of the Cosmopolis Creative Group, she has programmed cross-cultural festivals and events around Glasgow and beyond, including the multilingual Verse Universe performances of world poetry and song, and workshops and celebrations based on Slavic folk traditions.
She has also brought to life Poetry Patter, a group reading poetry from around the world.
A speaker of several languages, she currently works in Govanhill, the most ethnically diverse area in Scotland, where at least 88 languages are spoken (and she is still counting them).
She is fond of Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre where she sometimes presents shows of Eduard Bersudsky’s magical kinemats and stages events at the gallery at Trongate 103.
Together with Marion Eele, she organised the Bhasha Glasgow Language Festival 2021.
holds a Masters degree in Socio-Cultural Animation (specialization: Drama) and for several years she worked in a Cultural Centre (Mass Events Department) in Poland, before moving to Scotland in 2006.
Anna is the co-founder of Cosmopolis.
She has also A Higher National Diploma (HND) for Graphic Design and Animation.
She has an art studio in Glasgow’s East End where she sometimes disappears to paint and collage.
In 2019, Anna opened her dream a cafe on 83 Bowman Street in Govanhill in Glasgow.
She called it Bee’s Knees Cafe and made it a unique artful place in the buzzing Southside where you can come coorie in, delight the palate, make beautiful connections, contemplate life...
Anna loves people and she loves art and coffee, too.
The Picture Field
Here you can find musical fairy tales with her illustrations:
John Cavanagh
John’s book on the early days of Syd Barrett &
Pink Floyd is available in English, Italian and Spanish, with a Chinese
translation soon to be published by Bloomsbury Press.
His recorded catalogue,
working under the name Phosphene, as part of the duo Electroscope or in other
collaborations, spans 25 years. He’s produced records, notably in a long and
fruitful run with Scottish legend Rab Noakes. As a record label operator,
Cavanagh’s releases include albums by Delia Derbyshire, Ron Geesin and Lol
Coxhill.
John’s involvement with the Cosmopolis Creative
Group dates back to the early 2010s when he acted as compere for the annual
spring equinox festival in Glasgow called Drowning Marzanna.
Further
collaborations ensued with events staged at the Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre or
even as an open-air procession on Glasgow’s Trongate involving performances of
poetry and song in many different languages.
John says of the Cosmopolis Creative Group: “Being
involved with events devised by Cosmopolis across time has been a joy. From
colourful pageants to the hosting of multilingual poetry gatherings under
headings such as Verse Universe, it’s wonderful to see and hear how the sharing
of the music of language unites many diverse communities in the appreciation of
cultures from around the world which are welcomed here in Glasgow. The keynote
of Cosmopolis is that of the inquisitive mind, ever eager to learn and connect
with the fascination strands of our wonderful world, brought together through
the lens of communities in our city."
She also offered tuition in knitting, crochet, spinning, and dressmaking, and it is through this work that she became involved with
She is a member of Russkaya Cappella, Glasgow’s Russian Choir.
Russkaya Cappella exists to promote Russian choral music in Scotland to people unfamiliar with the repertory, but also provides a cultural focus for Russian-speaking people living here, their families, and people interested in learning the language.
Ashley has a Masters degree from Glasgow School of Art in Curatorial Practice for Contemporary Art, and is currently taking a break from freelance crafting while she undertakes doctoral research at the University of Glasgow into the reception of Russian music and musicians in Scotland in the early twentieth century.
In November 2015 Ashley co-founded Knit for Unity: Across the Globe with human rights activist Pinar Aksu. Knit for Unity is a friendly, community-led knitting group that makes cosy hats, scarves and blankets for anyone in need, anywhere in the world.
Marion is interested in languages and stories of migration, a calling that has taken her from London to Amman.
Her other passion is learning and sharing traditional crafts, including knitting, weaving, crochet, sewing, and more.
Marion joined Cosmopolis Creative group recently and has helped to organise the Bhasha Glasgow Language Festival.
moved to Glasgow in 2011 and immediately fell in love with the vibrant and cultured city. Through the Govanhill People's oral history project they became involved with Cosmopolis events, and participated in many wild and wonderful occasions. Although now only occasionally Glasgow residents their heart is still there!
Pictures by the talented Glasgow photographer Karen Gordon.
These are just a few faces of our Cosmopolis community.
