Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre: Glasgow’s hidden gem is on a mission to unhide itself

On the second floor of 103 Trongate you will find the Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre, one of Glasgow’s most unique presentations of art and culture.

Through mechanical sculptures, sound and light performances, audiences are told stories of joy, sadness, politics, and immigration.

Sharmanka was founded by Eduard Bersudsky - the artist behind the Kinemats - and his wife, Tatyana Jakovskaya, in Saint Petersburg.

The economic depression which came off the back of the collapse of the Soviet Union drove the theatre out of Russia and into Scotland, where it set up home and still resides today.

I came to speak to the couple’s son, Sergey, who now runs the operation.