After massive global success, the first Pecha Kucha Night arrived to Dubai on the 5th of December 2007. Pecha Kucha is a forum dedicated to creating a unique space for creative and experimental ideas. It offers young designers, students, artists, musicians, fashionistas, architects and cultural critics the chance to present their work, design or concept to the rest of the world.
What is Pecha Kucha Night?
Pecha Kucha Night, devised by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham (Klein Dytham architecture), was conceived in 2003 as a place for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. (Admittedly, it was also a way to get more people to visit SuperDeluxe - their then newly opened multimedia event space in Tokyo).
But as we all know, give a mike to a designer (especially an architect) and you'll be trapped for hours. The key to Pecha Kucha Night is its patented system for avoiding this fate. Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each - giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This keeps presentations concise, the interest level up, and gives more people the chance to show.
Pecha Kucha (which is Japanese for the sound of conversation) has tapped into a demand for a forum in which creative work can be easily and informally shown, without having to rent a gallery or chat up a magazine editor. This is a demand that seems to be global - as Pecha Kucha Night, without any pushing, has spread virally to over 80 cities across the world. Find a location and join the conversation.
Pecha Kucha Night Dubai Volume #1 Presenters were :
Hani Fallaha – An architect with a unique vision for creating rapid deployment shelters to respond to the very urgent situation of large scale displacement of people within the Middle East. More info at www.fallaha.com – or you can email him at: hani @ fallaha.com
Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFares - A graphic designer / design writer whose cultural exchange / design project brought together Dutch & Arab designers to create new Arabic fonts, Huda is an Associate Professor of Design and Founder/Director of the Khatt Foundation. For more information visit:www.khtt.net
Lamia and Ahmed Bensouda – A brother & sister team presenting a solar powered Modular Labourer Station that provides basic facilities for Dubai’s construction laborers who are currently often exposed to harsh conditions. For more information, visit: www.bnb.ae
Manabu Ozawa – A truly unique designer drawing upon inspiration from Eams furniture to rockabilly presenting his new retail space 50C. www.kitch22.ae
Mark Pilkington – A photographer and professor of design at AUSpresenting a series of works documenting a personal response to and interaction with spaces in the UAE. For more information you can email him at: mpilkington @ aus.edu
Mohammed Somji – A photojournalist presenting the photo essay - Dubai: City of Gold – which exposes a day in the life of those living and working in Dubai’s labor camps. For more visit: photoblog.mohamedsomji.com or www.seeingthings.ae
Nadine Kanso - A jewelry designer whose Bil Arabi series of handcrafted rings, earrings, pendants and bracelets uses 18-carat gold and the Arabic alphabet as inspiration. For more email: bazzella @ gmail.com
Noah Alireza - A photographer exploring the unsuspecting marriage of computers and photography.
Wael Hattar – A reformed advertiser whose short films & video installation push notions of perception / misperception and rely upon an interaction with the viewing public - to discuss interactive and commercial art.
Zahed Sultan – A creative enterpriser presenting en.v, a bilingual publication & online portal for the Middle East / North Africa dedicated to establishing regional awareness for environmental, educational, societal, corporate & governmental initiatives. For more visit: www.iamzahed.com - www.envearth.com - www.elboutique.com - www.kishay.com
For Pecha Kucha Dubai events there are no reserved seats, just on a first come / first served basis.
Check out www.pecha-kucha.org/cities/dubai for more details.
See the Map at: www.thethirdline.com/images/newmaprevised-english.jpg
Contact PechaKuchaDubai @ gmail.com or +971-4-341-1367 for details.
