PK45 is just around the corner.
The 45th iteration of PechaKucha – the fast-paced slideshow of inspirations, hopes and dreams of Charleston-area creatives – will feature eight people during its April 10 show at Charleston Music Hall.
One of those is artist Kevin Taylor, a Charleston native who now lives in Los Angeles.
“He is so damned talented,” organizer Terry Fox said.
Taylor designed what Fox calls the “crazy-amazing poster art” for PK45.
It’s a painting of what it might look like to build a large sculpture of a rhinoceros – not to suggest that artists with PK45 have horns on their noses or brazen, cantankerous personalities. Let’s just say the PK audience likely will find the eight presenters to be confident, assured and, for the most part, fun and reasonable.
20 slides in 400 seconds
Through the years, more than 350 creative Charlestonians have waxed poetic in presentations limited to 400 seconds to describe their careers, inspirations, hopes and dreams.
What results is six minutes and 40 seconds of revealing commentaries that require presenters and audiences to relate and absorb a lot of information quickly. 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.”
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 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.
PK 45’s presenters
PechaKucha, now in its 16th year in Charlston, will feature these creative folks on April 10:
- Lynnette White, director of The Plantation Singers
- Kevin Taylor, artist
- Eden Fonvielle and Noodle McDoodle, The V-Tones
- Camille Lowman, actor-member of the PURE Theatre core ensemble
- Bruise Wayne, graphic artist and “Under the Radar” honoree
- Mike East, president of TTS Studios and
- Manny Houston, multi-threat entertainer.
Robin Phoenix Johnson, founder of the Best Medicine Brigade and veteran of PK 42, will serve as emcee. Professor Ping (Josh Silverman) will again pound the tunes as the event’s veteran DJ to get folks in the mood for a night of fun.Tickets are $15 plus fees for the all-ages show and can be purchased online. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. April 10 with the show starting at 8 p.m. at Charleston Music Hall.
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