PechaKucha peachy-keen: A fun night of design talk

Halifax joins the international PechaKucha scene.

If you’re a curious type, with a love of culture and perhaps a short attention span, you won’t want to miss the city’s first PechaKucha night on Thursday, February 19 at Garrison Brewery (7:30pm, presentations start at 8:20pm, $4). Hosted by local design company Breakhouse, PechaKucha (Japanese for the sound of conversation) invites a group of talented individuals to speak to an audience about their design and creative ideas. The event is highly visual too, as each speaker is allowed about 20 images, shown for 20 seconds each.

Founded in Tokyo by Klein Dytham Architecture, the event has become so successful—-there are over 150 chapters worldwide; this is the fourth in Canada—-that there is now a full-time staff dedicated to PechaKucha, and ensuring that international organizers reflect the spirit of the non-profit event.

According to Peter Wuensch, co-founder of Breakhouse, they received approval from Tokyo to do four events this year, as part of their Poodle Club design series. He says that PechaKucha has become a viral hit, in part because “people are tired of the global economy and mega-brands. This is a way of gaining control of culture.”

Although the original intention was to develop a forum for designers to show their stuff, the popular events have expanded to include musicians, politicians and even celebrities. Halifax’s PechaKucha, hosted by Lucy DeCoutere, has a stellar line-up, including artist/”baker of things” Doug Bamford, impulsive researcher and master knitter Mimi Fautley, textile artist Michelle SaintOnge (recently returned from The Martha Stewart Show), fashion designer and unconditional artist Gary Markle, multimedia artist extraordinaire David Clark, former Coast cartoonist Rebecca Kraatz, filmmaker Evan Kelly, event-planner Marcel Boulet, architect and bricoleur Roger Mullin and more.

Wuensch says, “It’s a real cross-pollination, and it’s about getting your ideas shared. There is a networking opportunity too, but it’s super-informal.”

This article appears in Feb 5-11, 2009.