Twenty images creatively displayed, twenty seconds to passionately describe each: this is Pecha Kucha.
Pecha Kucha (pronounced "peh-chak-cha") originated in 2003 when architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham (Klein Dytham architecture) were inspired to provide an informal venue in Tokyo for designers to share their art and ideas in a creative, informal environment.
In the years since, Pecha Kucha (PK) has spread to 168 cities around the world, where a host of talented movers and shakers – artists, designers, architects, musicians and other professionals – have shared their work in the six minutes and forty seconds given.
On February 13, at the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati will join this exciting international conversation with Pecha Kucha Night Cincinnati volume 01. Twelve presenters will share their work at this event, of which there will be four per year.
Among the presentations on the books for this first event are works of locally conceived art, design, architecture, even tattoos and graffiti.
"The content for the ideas are limitless," says Cincinnati organizer Greg Lewis, a project designer for KZF Design, independent furniture designer and adjunct professor at his alma mater, the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning. "The only thing that's limited and fixed is the format for the presentations."
The 20/20 rule again.
After receiving permission from PK's Tokyo headquarters to launch the Cincinnati event, Lewis assembled a tight knit crew of like-minded professionals to make it a reality.
The office in Tokyo has "been flexible about letting me use my own vision," Lewis says.
Part of this flexibility includes each city's customization of the PK logo, which takes on local flavors.
"They give us freedom to interpret that as designers and creative people to make it specific to our city," Lewis says.
Alongside Lewis, the creative all star team cultivating Cincinnati's local PK vibe includes Nazanin Khodadad, Karalambo, Chris Schoonover Rohs, Josh Barnes, Steve Haber and Brian Monahan.
While most events tend toward visual art, Lewis says Cincinnati has a unique opportunity to showcase its strengths in fields like medicine and branding.
"I am really hoping to capitalize on the diversity of Cincinnati's business background," Lewis says. "I also want to bring in the medical side," including cutting edge research taking place at institutions like the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Cincinnati Children's Hospital, among others.
To learn more about Pecha Kucha or to submit a presentation proposal, visit here.
Writer: Jonathan DeHart
Source: Greg Lewis
Photography by Scott Beseler
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