Pecha Kucha Night at the Finnish Embassy in Washington

Posted by Susanna at 3:30 PM, May 23, 2009 (Comments)

Category: Events

Cecilia Jönsson and Linda Tocchini-Valentini

Rouzita Vahhabaghai and Karim Chrobog

A PECHA KUCHA NIGHT was held on Wednesday night, May 20, at the Finnish Embassy on what is called Embassy Row on Massachusetts Avenue in Northwest Washington, D.C.

Rouzita Vahhabaghai and the Finnish cultural counselor Pekka Hako

FINNISH CULTURAL counselor Pekka Hako welcomed the audience to the stylish Finnish embassy. The presenters were Peter Nissen, Gotham Studios (producer "GeoRadio," www.gothamstudios.com); Simone Jacobson, Words Beats and Life, Inc. - Arts Administrator, "Transforming Individual Lives & Communities Through Hip-Hop" (www.wblinc.org); Richard Chartier, Sound/Installation Artist "sound works" (www.3particles.com); John Bryant, Architect, "Sound, Space and Awareness: Architecture from an Aural Perspective;" Afsaneh Mirfendereski, Chevy Chase Designs, Architect/Artist, "Sounds of Poetry;" Charles Barnett, Composer, "Music Composition for Film" (www.charliebarnett.com); Yuko K & Akemi Maegawa, Electronic Musician & Artist, "Sound/Art Collaboration" (www.aphrodizia.net / www.akemimaegawa.com); and David Schulman, NPR, Violinist & Audio Producer, "I dreamed of a Website Called Clamor" (www.npr.org/templates/story.php?storyld=4622401 / www.audioambush.org).

Karim Chrobog, Sogand Zamani, Ahmad Hajj and Bert Dudley

This Pecha Kucha event was arranged in collaboration with the Embassy of Finland and the City of Helsinki.

Gigi Mathews

There have been Pecha Kucha events in more than 170 cities all over the world. Pecha Kucha Night, devised by architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham in Tokyo, was conceived in 2003 as a place for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds, giving 6 minutes and 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This keeps presentations concise. 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.