PechaKucha 44 lands Nov. 29 at Charleston Music Hall

A high-flying alien in a space saucer zips by the moon in award-winning cartoonist Steve Stegelin’s latest poster for PechaKucha 44. This latest installment of show and tell for Charleston’s creative class is set for 8 p.m. Nov. 29 at the Charleston Music Hall.

“It’s been an honor to be a regular contributor of poster designs to help celebrate and promote PechaKucha Charleston,” Stegelin said. “Hearing from creatives of all stripes — visual artists, writers, musicians, chefs, designers of every type — is always an inspiration.

“I leave every event reinvigorated, buzzing with an injection of the creative juices that make Charleston special. It’s also often an affirming reminder of how, no matter the medium, there are common struggles shared by all artists and creative types. All told, it’s a fantastic celebration of Charleston’s undercurrent of creativity, highlighting how art, ideas and inspiration are all around us.”

To date, more than 350 creative Charlestonians have waxed poetic in presentations limited to 400 seconds to describe their careers, inspirations, hopes and dreams. But Stegelin, who has been penning snarky cartoons for the City Paper for years, has more posters for the PK series than anyone else, said organizer Terry Fox of Charleston Arts Festival.

“Number 44 is also notable as featuring the fourth poster design by City Paper’s resident genius-artist, Steve Stegelin, having previously done designs for numbers 12, 32 and 37,” Fox said. “Several other artists have designed two posters solo or as collaborations, but Steve is the titleholder for the most posters by far. I keep assuring him that I will not hit him up again, but then I lie!”

What is Pecha Kucha anyway?

The first-ever PechaKucha, which is loosely translated as “chit-chat,” was on Feb. 20, 2003, in Tokyo. It was the brainchild of architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham, who felt some of their colleagues were much too long-winded.

So they offered a quick format to speed things along but give deep insights through spoken word and visual representations. In the Nov. 29 Pecha Kucha, eight presenters will share their professions, preoccupations, insights and inspirations in 20 slides which change every 20 seconds. What results is 400 seconds of revealing commentaries that require presenters and audiences to relate and absorb a lot of information quickly. And more than anything, it’s an intellectual, artistic blast that stretches your mind and imagination.

“PechaKucha is a fun, inspiring and powerful community event,” said former participant Polly Buxton, owner of Buxton Books. “I didn’t fully grasp its importance until I had the honor of participating as a presenter and sharing the stage with such trailblazing members of our community.”

In the 20 years since PechaKucha started, there have been PK happenings in more than 1,000 cities. There are as many as 100 events each month.

Eight presenters set for this year

PK44, which celebrates the 15th anniversary of the series in Charleston, includes eight creatives.

“I am looking forward especially to hearing from Carrie Wooden and Jalen Williams, two of the artists recently featured in Charleston magazine’s third ‘Under the Radar’ competition, as well as Tim McManus, whose Hed Hi pop-ups are really shaking up the local ‘underground’ arts scene,” Fox said.

The full roster of presenters, who will work with PK40 veteran and emcee LaFaye and Professor Ping (Josh Silverman) on tunes, includes:

Alex Searles, artist and graphic designer;
Kip Bulwinkle, owner and photographer at Karson Photography;
Mike Brown, vocal artist, song writer, and producer;
Marcela Rabens, producer of Universal Latin News Charleston;
R.W. Smith, cast member for Finding Freedom: The Journey of Robert Smalls and PURE Theatre core ensemble member;
Carrie Wooden, collage artist and “Under the Radar” honoree;
Jalen Williams, photographer and “Under the Radar” honoree; and
Tim McManus, principal of Hed Hi Media.