There’s nothing to not love about the PechaKucha concept. Interesting, mind-broadening content? Check. Incredibly hip? Check. Beer? Make mine a whiskey, but check.
Okay, so what actually is a PechaKucha night? Think of it like TED Talks on speed.
It’s an informal gathering of creatives to share ideas, work, thoughts, new concepts, incredible trips – anything really. The format is 20×20, which means each speaker has 20 slides, shown for 20 seconds each. And they’re moved on automatically, so there’s no ‘I know I’ve gone over time but I’d just like to make one more point…’
That’s only 6 minutes and 40 seconds of talk time per person, so your potential for boredom or apathy is drastically decreased.
PechaKucha also differs from TED in that where the latter hosts presentations by luminaries in their field, this is all about the people on the ground. Anyone can present at a PechaKucha night – if you have something you love that you want to share, by all means line yourself up by applying to speak here.
In the beginning, there was design
Like so many of the world’s unbelievably cool things, PechaKucha nights were started in Tokyo.
They were the brainchild of architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham, who got the name from the Japanese term for chit-chat (works rather well, doesn’t it?). The pair jokingly say the idea for the format came about because otherwise, given slides and a captive audience, architects are likely to ramble for hours.
A global community
Spreading like wildfire among creative types globally, PechaKucha nights are now held in over 800 cities. That’s a whole lot of shared passion and coming together of minds.
And really that’s what it’s about – coming together. The evenings are so informal, you can walk up to a speaker and chat to them about what they’re doing, or just encourage and motivate. It’s a zeitgeisty concept that’s breaking down the walls and forming connections between Cape Town’s creative thinkers.
We applaud. Especially if you stick to your alloted six and a half minutes.
OF NOTE
When Tuesday 10 November at 7 pm
Where The Assembly, 61 Harrington Street, District Six
Cost Free
Contact Join the Pecha Kucha Night Facebook event here or visit www.pechakucha-capetown.com
Photography Pecha Kucha Cape Town