“PechaKucha Nights are informal and fun gatherings where creative people get together and share their ideas, works, thoughts, holiday snaps – just about anything really, in the PechaKucha 20×20 format.” So says the PKN website about the phenomenon that has “gone viral globally” with PechaKucha Nights happening in 230 cities. And now its coming to Raglan – so what do we need to know?
First of all PechaKucha is a Japanese term meaning ‘chitchat’. PechaKucha 20×20 describes the simple presentation format where you – as a presenter – show 20 images, each for 20 seconds. The software forwards the images automatically and you talk as they go, or not, as you choose. That makes each presentation about 6 and a half minutes long so between 10 and 16 presentations can be shown during an evening, with plenty of time for drinks, delicious snacks and socialising in between. (Way better than putting your stuff on a social networking site like Facebook because PechaKucha is a live gathering of real people, with real food and drink!)
The PechaKucha phenomenon was devised by architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dythan as a one off event in their Tokyo gallery. Their aim was to get people talking about their work, their interests, and their best experiences without going on too long. It’s a winning formula, not too daunting for first time presenters, and too short to be boring even if a particular topic doesn’t interest you.
PechaKucha is being brought to Raglan by the Raglan Community Arts Council, and the first of 4 PechKucha Nights this year will be held at the Old School Arts Centre on 4 March.
Presenters can be any age so long as they have something of interest to share and can stand up before an audience. The website describes PechaKucha Night as an amazing event for any creative people of any age, famous or not. It’s a place for them to show their work, be it fashion, art, design, graphics, finished projects, or even holiday snaps – anything. The secret seems to be that if you are passionate about something, it will be interesting to others.
Anyone interested in presenting on the opening night is urged to contact the Old School as soon as possible to find out the details. Non-techie people don’t have to know how to use the PKN software – just provide the 20 digital images in any of the common image formats (e.g. tif, jpeg, png) or as 20 slides in PowerPoint.
The evenings are open to the public, just $7 on the door, cash bar for drinks and snacks. So join the worldwide network and come along to Raglan’s first PechaKucha Night on 4 March.
