PechaKucha Volume 20: Inspire the World

What a world we live in. This change in life has been so quick and dramatic but one thing is for sure – we all still want to come together and inspire one another. While we may not be able to gather in person, there are still so many stories about creativity and inspiration happening worth sharing – now more than ever. For the past 5 years, PechaKucha St. Joseph/Benton Harbor (PKSJBH) has brought 19 evenings filled with such creative stories, and the 20th installment promises to do just the same.

As part of the new INSPIRE the World initiative from PechaKucha (PK) Headquarters in Tokyo, tune in to PechaKucha St. Joseph/Benton Harbor’s YouTube Event for a free and live online event Thursday, May 14 at 7 PM. Catch familiar faces in the lineup of nine presenters from around the nation and meet PK founder Mark Dytham during this new and inspiring virtual event:

Interested in supporting PechaKucha St. Joseph / Benton Harbor? Sign up to present at a future event, or browse past events at https://www.pechakucha.com/cities/st-joseph

Donations can be made on the organization’s Eventbrite page.

PechaKucha ‘INSPIRE The World’ LIVE events showcase positive, creative and inspiring stories. In times of crisis, the PK global network has mobilized to curate stories of how people, who are creatively coping through the COVID-19 pandemic, can INSPIRE the World. These presentations are curated to talk about not only the pandemic, but also to inspire with stories unrelated to our current situation.

PechaKucha’s – meaning “chit chat” in Japanese – presentation format shows 20 images, each for 20 seconds. In other words, presenters get 400 seconds to tell their story, with visuals guiding the way. Whether you have been to all 19 volumes or this is your first, this fun evening spent hearing from local artists and community members will bring inspirational stories to your home.

This creative outlet began as nighttime get-togethers in Tokyo in 2003 by two renowned architects. Since then, three million people have attended PechaKucha events worldwide. Inspired by their desire to “talk less, show more,” Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Tokyo’s Klein-Dytham Architecture (KDa) created PechaKucha in February 2003 as a way to attract people to their experimental event space in Roppongi, Japan, and to enable young designers to meet, show their work, and exchange ideas in 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

In 2004, cities in Europe began hosting PK Nights, followed over the years by hundreds of others across the globe. As of April 2019, PechaKucha nights had been held in more than 1,142 cities worldwide and attended by more than 3 million people. The key to the success is the simple format where presenters only get 20 images shown for 20 seconds each — giving anyone a chance to present their recent project or passion.

It’s no surprise PechaKucha has been described at the world’s biggest physical social network! When we now find ourselves lacking physical spaces where creative people can share their work, PechaKucha’s network is able to expose the hidden creativity across the world. PechaKucha nights are organized by local, passionate, and enthusiastic people with backgrounds in many creative fields – hear their stories on May 14!

Wightman, Krasl Art Center, and individual volunteers collaborate to bring this engaging event to the community.