Hello, manila! It’s pecha kucha night

A little creativity does go away. When Tokyo-based architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham needed to promote their multi-media event space, SuperDeluxe, in Tokyo’s Roppongi district, they came up with a little networking night called Pecha Kucha (pronounced peh-chak-cha), from the Japanese term for “chitchat.”

The idea was to get a crowd in to listen to several young designers and other creative people talk about their latest projects, or whatever ideas were brewing in their minds, in a very equitable scenario — the speakers are able to get the word out on their work, and the audience gets a dose of various interesting and intriguing perspectives, plus a whole lot of beer.

What started out as a night of creative conversation and networking in Tokyo, the birthplace of all things cool (not to mention cute), has spread to 126 cities all over the world—from Amsterdam to Adelaide, Bratislava to Bangkok, San Francisco to Seoul. Apart from the venue (Pecha Kucha is better appreciated in a bar rather than a boardroom), the mode of presentation is what makes it appealing—in the age of numerous distractions, brevity is key, so Pecha Kucha follows a strict format: 20 slides per speaker, 20 seconds per slide. For those who, like me, don’t have the talent of staying awake through PowerPoint presentations of epic proportions, this brisk approach is wonderful news.

Now, thanks to Idea!s Creatives, Inc, a social enterprise design team for non-profit organizations — along with Adobo magazine and Epson Philippines — Pecha Kucha is coming to Manila. The first of a series of four scheduled Pecha Kucha Nights is happening on June 13, at Mag:Net Bonifacio High Street (2/F, Building 3), at 8:30 to 11 p.m., and will feature heady mix of ideas from designers, graphic artists, writers, visual artists, and other individuals with interesting images to share.

Join the creative conversation…

Here are 15 reasons to drop in on the first ever Pecha Kucha Night in Manila. Come, sit and listen (and drink beer) to some of the Philippines’ most active creative minds.

1. LEO ABAYA, a painter, and production designer for film and theater. He has exhibited work for award-winning projects like Rizal, Muro-ami, and Kubrador, where he expresses how in his art “design and painting inform each other.” His recent one-man show of paintings at the Utterly Art Gallery in Singapore reportedly sold out on opening night.

2. NICKY SERING, a commercial and travel photographer, whose current “passion project” is a documentary of the lives of lesser-known Filipino boxers struggling to find glory in the ring.

3. Fellow Supreme columnist JAN VINCENT ONG, a book reviewer who prides himself in sometimes “judging books by their covers.” His website Read Now features blogs about his “adventures” in the writing world, as a literary enthusiast and a book critic.

4. KAIE ENCANTO, an art director for Ace Saatchi & Saatchi who has won second prize in the Poster Category of Adobo magazine for her work “Tabi Tabi Po: Eto na Ang Aming Mundo.” She is also part of The Cheshire Cat, a team of local young designers specializing in graphic design.

5. DOMINIQUE MARIE TIU, a 20-year-old undergraduate student at the Ateneo de Manila University and founder of Mann for Every Woman, an online-based clothing retail business to be launched this month.

6. DONNA MIRANDA of Green Papaya Art Space, is a contemporary dancer and choreographer who founded and pioneered Dance Forum with Myra Beltran. She was last year’s recipient of the Jury Prize in Solo, Duo and Group Division of Yokohama Dance Collection, and the recipient of Rimbun Dahan Choreographer’s Residency in Malaysia.

7. Noted filmmaker RAYMOND RED, the first Filipino to have won the Palme D’Or award at the Cannes Film festival 2000 for his short film Anino, who will be skipping the cinema chat and will talk instead about another passion: collecting old toys.

8. JONI CAPARAS, current head of art at BBDO-Guerrero-Ortega. Over the past year, her work has been recognized at The One Show, Cannes Lions and D&AD.

9. UP Fine Arts major JIN JOSON, an avid anime/manga fan, and cosplayer.

10. Illustrator, graphic designer, motion graphics artist, and animator WHAM BACABAC, best known for the tattooed portraits from his joint exhibit “Skins and Needles.”

11. Sculptor LEEROY NEW whose affinity for grotesque forms has earned him significant buzz in the art world (check out some of his pieces hanging on the walls at Mogwai at Cubao Expo. His recent exhibits include the “Psychopompous!” (at the CCP) and “Anarchophobia.”

12. INKSURGE, a design studio concocted by digital baristas and authentic coffee junkies Jois Tai (she takes it w/ milk) and Rex Advincula (he takes it w/ sugar).

13. VISUAL POND Artspace, Inc., a non-profit organization committed to stirring up the Philippine contemporary art scene through projects that engage and promote local artists both here and abroad.

14. GRAFIK SALAD, an all-Filipino design team based in Cebu, involved in graphic design, illustration, fashion, art direction, and advertising work showcasing local art and culture.

15. PILIPINAS STREET PLAN, a group of artists dedicated to expressing their passions through grafitti art. They’ve taken their coloring way beyond Metro Manila’s boundaries and into other parts of the country, as well as abroad.

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Tickets for the first event are priced at P150 each, with a student discount price of P120, inclusive of entrance, one beer, and pica-pica. For inquiries and other concerns, send an e-mail to PKNManila@gmail.com, or call (+632) 436-8864.