Press Release
Glasgow and Manchester, U.K., 11 October 2021 -- Ando Glaso, Scottish Roma Charity and KaskoSan Roma Charitable Company in England proudly announce the launch of OPA! (www.opa-opa.org), the first Roma led cultural network and online creative platform in the U.K. Ando Glaso and KaskoSan decided to work together to grow the first national Roma cultural network in the United Kingdom and beyond.
“The OPA! Roma cultural network aims to tackle the cultural deprivation of Roma communities, inspire Roma creators to participate, showcase and nurture our rich cultural heritage. We are kindly inviting Roma cultural performers, musicians, dancers, story-tellers, sculptors, painters, film makers, drama artists, actors and actresses, illustrators, graphic designers, writers, poets and photographers from all over the U.K. to register on www.opa-opa.org to be exposed to the growing number of supporters of Roma culture.”, says Janos Lang, managing director of Ando Glaso.
Juice Vamosi, founder of the KaskoSan Roma Charity in England adds: “There are a large number of East European Roma family networks in the U.K. and the opa-opa.org cultural platform is their first opportunity to connect with each other within one single street but also across the nation. The Roma community does not exist, it is yet to be built. Culture is the best domain to do that. On www.opa-opa.org you can find a repository of Roma cultural treasures represented by Hungarian, Romanian, Czech, Slovak, Polish and Bulgarian Roma cultural performers.”
Since its establishment in 2017, Ando Glaso has supported a large number of Roma people through creative and unique cultural programmes and initiatives. As a result of this work a growing number of Roma people participate actively in the cultural life of Scotland, showcasing their cultural heritage at community programmes as well as large scale, mainstream cultural events. Based on these experiences, the OPA! Network aims to act as a cultural agency that serves authentic Roma cultural values via its professional productions to cultural organisations and institutes, schools and universities, museums, libraries, charities, theatres, festivals, cultural organisers, promoters and producers. Through its digital platform it also invites the general public to support and become part of a living and exciting community of Roma creators and culture.
To get full access to the unique and never-before-seen rich cultural content of Roma artists, interested organisations and individuals are cordially invited to register on the platform. The first 100 registrants will get a special membership discount!
The profits gained from the membership fees gathered on the platform will be equally shared among all cultural creators based on the number of their contributions.
It is free to register as a content creator. If anyone needs help with registration, digitising their content, etc. they can contact us through: contact@andoglaso.org but also on KaskoSan.org and Facebook.com/kaskosan or on 07422617894 via Whatsapp or phone. “We speak Romanes, Hungarian, Romanian, Czech, Slovakian and Bulgarian, so you are welcome to get in contact in any of these languages.”, says Juice Vamosi, KaskoSan leader.
Ando Glaso and its partners are organising the first national assembly of the Roma Cultural Network in the U.K. Venue and date to be announced soon! If you wish to join the network, get in touch with KaskoSan and Ando Glaso via info@kaskosan.org or contact@andoglaso.org or, for more information, you can also call us on 07422617894.
-ENDS-
Notes to editors about Ando Glaso:
Ando Glaso (In Tune) SCIO is a Scottish charity set up in 2017 to support cultural and community development of Roma people living in Scotland. It uses Roma cultural heritage as means of engagement and creates opportunities for work, upskilling and social inclusion. Ando Glaso applies asset based community development approaches in its work since Roma culture and traditions have been historically important for Roma families globally, often providing the most reliable source of income. Roma culture and arts have been identified as the best medium of engagement, interaction, inclusion and development. Combining its expertise in Roma cultural heritage with experiences from the creative industries and long-term tested community development approaches, Ando Glaso developed a unique way of collaboration with Roma artists and provides support to a large number of Roma families in Scotland and beyond.
Notes to editors about KaskoSan:
KaskoSan is the first global Roma brand and the largest Roma social network since 2009. It provides regular support to East European Roma families in Bradford, Oldham and Bolton as a charity since 2014. KaskoSan produces broadcast quality TV documentaries and short films that engage millions of viewers in the U.K. and across the world. KaskoSan promotes “romanipe”, the global Roma culture via the video content and films it produces in Romani Gypsy language.
