Poland 🇵🇱
DUO
Talon, 24, I’m a cosplayer from Poland and I’ve been cosplaying for the last seven years. I love making armors and performing on stage. My costumes are usually on the edgier side, their source being dark and edgy games. When I’m not cosplaying, I GM for my friends when we play table top RPGs, play video games (Dark Souls series is my favourite!) and try to figure how to live without sleep and with so much cosplay crunching.
Bish, 23, I’m also a cosplay from Poland, and I have also been cosplaying for the last seven years. My favourite part of cosplaying is the costume-making process, as well as figuring materials and things as simple as searching for perfect soundtrack to the skit. In my spare time that I do not spend on cosplay, I play table top RPGs, play video games, and craft other things (non-cosplay related), as much as I can 🙂
How did you discover cosplay and what made you start in this hobby? How long ago?
Talon: Together with Bish, we started cosplaying around seven years ago. I wanted to have some fun on the biggest convention in Poland, and I thought that going there in cosplay would be much more entertaining.
Bish: Once, me and Talon were discussing going go Pyrkon, the biggest convention in Poland, and thought that making a cosplay for this event would be a nice idea. We had two and a half months to finish, we made two armors from Skyrim, and never looked back.
Why did you choose Daedra and Dark Brotherhood Mage as your projects for the ICL preselection? Is this your first time joining an international cosplay competition?
Talon: Daedric is, in my opinion, the most impressive looking armor in Skyrim. It was intimidating but I thought that with more time during the pandemic I would be able to make it. It also fit our initial script of the skit, on which we have later built the actual performance. I have represented Poland five times (Eurocosplay 2016, C4 2018, ICL 2018, Eurocosplay 2019, CWM 2022).
Bish: I went to London Dungeon with my friends once, which has inspired one particular moment of the skit that we presented during the preselections. We built a skit around it, and then looked for cosplays that would fit the skit after applying necessary changes. We have decided to make cosplays from Skyrim, as we both love the game and have an experience with making costumes from that game. This is not my favourite time participating in an international cosplay competiiton, as I have been a representative of Poland during ICL 2018 and C4 2018.
What does cosplay mean for you? And what is your favorite part of the hobby?
Talon: Cosplay is my way of receiving attention from people, haha. My favourite part of the hobby is definitely performing on stage and large swords.
Bish: Cosplay is my favourite! I have learnt so much thanks to this hobby and I am proud of my accomplishments. My favourite part of this hobby is the costume-making process, sewing to be exact.
If you weren’t selected before the pandemic, please let us know how did it affect to your cosplay projects and motivation and how you approached the selections.
Talon: At first I was unmotivated, but then I’ve realised that with all this free time I can tackle projects that I had previously deemed impossible. This thought helped me finish my Daedric for the preselections.
Bish: We were not selected during the pandemic. The last two years have definitely not help with my motivation as I work best with deadlines settled. During the pandemic there was also very few opportunities to meet my cosplay friends which has also affected my work on costumes.
What do you expect from your visit to Spain? Is this your first time visiting the country?
Talon: It’s my fourth time visiting Spain. I have been there once for the ICL 2018, and two times for vacation. I want to meet cosplayers from all around the world, make friends, and have fun.
Bish: This will be my second trip to Spain. We have already represented Poland back in 2018. Now, I expect to have as much fun as I did four years ago, ICL was amazing!
Have you decided your project for the finals in Madrid? Can you give us a clue?
Talon: It will be once again a costume from the game that takes place in the frozen mountainous realms of Skyrim.
Bish: We have (sort of)! We will stay in Skyrim. 🙂
Describe the cosplay community in your country using five words.
Talon: big, talented, skilled, genshin, impact.
Bish: creative, supportive, open, growing, motivated.
You can follow Talon and Bish on:
instagram.com/talonscosplaycrusade
facebook.com/talonscosplaycrusade
tiktok.com/@talonscosplaycrusade
instagram.com/bishcuitcosplay
facebook.com/bishcosplay
SOLO
I’m Kula (in Polish it means sphere), 30 years old. Kamil “Kula” Kulczewski, born in small town in Poland. Since early age I’ve been interested in computer games, history, engineering and designing. This mix brought me to the Assassin’s Creed series and finally to cosplay. I try to mix variety techniques in my projects. Life is too short for improving only one way of creating cosplay. On daily basis I work as engineer and design city buses. Cosplay let me connect the world of art and engineering in one hobby.
How did you discover cosplay and what made you start in this hobby? How long ago?
I discovered cosplay thanks to Assassin’s Creed games. Since I remember I’ve been a huge fan of this series. I wanted to wield outfits like assassin. 7 years ago I decided to visit the biggest fantasy convention in Poland for the first time. Then my friends told me, wearing game’s outfits was named cosplay. I tried to buy Altair’s uniform from Assassin’s Creed 1 but every offer available in Poland was ugly. I decided to make it by myself. My granny has taught me how to use sewing machine when I was 5 years old so I saw it easily. I just looked on the reference photo and started creating my first costume. I just knew how to do it. I think this skill was a gift from my grandmother and I wanted to achieve perfection. Year after year I have been discovering new techniques and finally realized that creating costumes is much more than sewing. Now I connect cosplay with my traveling hobby and I visit cities from Assassin’s Creed in assassins outfits. This is how I fell in cosplay.
Why did you choose Ezio from Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood as your project for the ICL preselection? Is this your first time joining an international cosplay competition?
In my opinion Ezio was the biggest mentor from Assassin’s Creed. I love cosplaying this hero. His outfit from “Brotherhood” let me use my sewing skills and other techniques that I love: leather work, carving thermoplastic materials and playing with the colors. I also wanted to visit Rome in this costume so I decided to mix my hobby again. I prepared light version for traveling and finish it especially for the preselection.
This is my first time joining an international competition.
What does cosplay mean for you? And what is your favorite part of the hobby?
Since I was youth I have been learning playing instruments, producing music, concerting but this kind of art I could only touch by ears and imagination. I was looking for something that I could
“be inside of”, something that let me touch my creations in reality and be a part of them. Cosplay was the answer.
For me cosplay is something which connects variety types of art, technologies and hobby.
My favorite part of cosplay is designing and creating costume. On a daily basis I work as engineer constructor so I love designing and building. However for me the real satisfaction is bringing memories from games to other people. Their nostalgic smile is the highest prize for my work.
If you weren’t selected before the pandemic, please let us know how did it affect to your cosplay projects and motivation and how you approached the selections.
Every year I prepare new cosplay from Assassin’s Creed, travel to city from the game and compare places in reality to the virtual objects. When I realized this year give me possibility to start in selections I stopped new projects and started finishing my Ezio Auditore from Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood to manage every single detail of this costume and give an honors to this hero.
What do you expect from your visit to Spain? Is this your first time visiting the country?
This is my first time in Spain. I expect to see beautiful landscapes and learn something about local culture.
Have you decided your project for the finals in Madrid? Can you give us a clue?
I won preselection on the last weekend of July. I was wondering about many projects for the finals but I realized there is not enough time for designing and creating new cosplay with the quality and detail I could be proud of it. I decided to improve my preselection project, create really amazing and difficult props especially for the finals and bring it to Spain.
Describe the cosplay community in your country using five words.
Perfectionists
Hardworking people
Friendship
Support
Never ending party 🙂
You can follow Kula on:
Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok: @assassinscreedtrip
Team Poland was selected at Ryucon (July 2022)
