Thank you to all who came out last night for Pecha Kucha #9. If you’d like to reminisce or if you were unable to attend and would like a glimpse into what went on, here is the night in review courtesy of photographer Tim McManus.
For the full set, please click HERE.
Brad Ball was an energetic speaker sharing his manifesto, “Create Yourself” with the audience at Pecha Kucha Charleston vol. 7.
Just in case you missed the presentation…
Ayoka Lucas told us in no uncertain words, we must support the creative work of our designers by purchasing their work, wearing it and promoting it.
Ayoka shared her presentation, and while the images are fun, they lack something without her dry wit and devastating charm.
Ayoka’s Presentation from Pecha Kucha Charleston vol. 7
Just in case you missed last Robert Prioleau’s presentation on the impact of the creative industry in Charleston, you can view it on the Blue Ion Blog or enjoy it here.
Later today we’ll be holding the seventh Pecha Kucha Night in Charleston. Since the first one in November 2008 we’ve enjoyed over 50 different creative presenters and close to 3,000 attendees. We’ve been inspired by the 6:40 length presentations that have featured live performances, arguments for better urban design and architecture, real time DJ crowd sampling, and French cuisine and haircuts served on stage. As well as horrified by JimiHat from Guerilla Cuisine as he mooned the crowd. Taken as a whole, it’s demonstration of the amazing creative talent here in Charleston and a reminder of its impact on our lives.
But while most of us here felt this energy, we couldn’t prove that it was more than a lifestyle benefit, and couldn’t prove that it was a major economic force. We didn’t have the hard facts that many wanted or needed to validate it, so we couldn’t convince others that creative was worth supporting.
That’s where Parliament entered the picture….with a mission to harness Pecha Kucha energy and channel it into opportunity. Early this year we received some funding to conduct a study of the economic impact of all the creative efforts in the Charleston region. Smart consultants were hired, who then dug into data and wrote a report. The results are pretty exciting.
That plan can be viewed here:
Some highlights:
What to do with this info?
So, what to do with this newfound knowledge? Who needs to hear this truth?
The easy answer is to say that we need share this to local decision makers so that they better understand that the creative industry here is for reals. So they respect it and back it.
But the honest answer is that this report is a message to those in the creative industry here…that we don’t need to….and that we can’t…..sit on the sidelines and wait for others to make Charleston a better place for creatives.
We’re already a force. It’s time to cash in. And there are steps that each of us can take to get things cranking.
This is where we intend to focus.
Jane Frederick related the places and reasons why they inspire her work. She posted her presentation to her blog and if you’d like to enjoy it, you can do so here.
Frederick's Pantheon image
Buen Ache founder and PKN3 presenter Julia Jaskwich shared with the PKN attendees her journey to dance. Her self-examination was candid and moving. She provided her remarks for reproduction here.
Good Evening and Buenas Tardes!
My name is Julia Jaskwhich and I am artistic director of Buen Ache dance company, an Afro-Latino dance company based here in Charleston.
As you can guess based on our name, Buen Ache dances a style of dance that combines Latin and African elements. We perform traditional Afro-Latino dances, such as the Cha Cha, the Afro-Cuban Rumba, and the Dominican Merengue. We also choreograph new styles of dance. We have a dance called “Palo” that tells the story of a slave rebellion in Cuba, and one called “Negroide” that depicts the work of sugar cane cutters in coastal Peru. Our dances tell stories that depict the richness and diversity of Afro-Latino culture.
This evening I’m going to tell you a little about my story, and then I’ll perform a dance called Merengue with a few of my dancers so you can get a little of the flavor of what we do.
Buen Ache performs the Merengue at PKN3
So lets start with some background about me.
As I am not a Latina, and not of African descent, this journey of mine is somewhat unusual. I was born here in SC and raised in the traditional lifestyle of most white south carolinians, meaning that I had virtually no exposure to anything culturally enlightening throughout most of my childhood.
I would say that I have always loved to dance, but the truth is that during my childhood the only dances I knew of were Ballet, Modern, and Jazz– none of which interested me in the slightest degree.
I actually had no clue that I loved to dance until I my early teen years, when I first saw Hip Hop at my predominantly African American high school, which, due to the notorious segregation still so prevalent in the southern US, was actually really my first true exposure to the culture of Black America.
At that time during the 90′s the dance known as the “butterfly”, which had come to the US from the West Indies, was all the rage. I saw it at my high school and was determined to learn it.
Later in my teen years I made friends with a Puerto Rican woman and first saw Salsa and Merengue. I was spellbound.
I had absolutely no clue how to do these dances, and my attempts at dancing were miserably devoid of any authentic flavor. Luckily I was somewhat oblivious to all this, otherwise I think I would have been too defeated to continue.
I don’t remember the exact sequence of what happened next, but somewhere along the line I saw a West African dance performance, and I fell in love with this style of dance as well.
My quest to learn African and Latin dances was one filled with stumbling blocks, many unfriendly stares, a lot of embarrassment, some complete humiliation, and many unsuccessful attempts to be accepted as a dancer.
As a result of the stigma and embarrassment I felt about trying to dance kinds of dance that a white girl wasn’t supposed to do, I decided that leaving the US to study dance would give me a far better chance at learning both African and Latin styles of dance.
So I made my way across the Atlantic to Guinea, West Africa and also to Havana, Cuba, where I spent a few months dancing every day for many hours with local dancers. These experiences were perhaps some of the most fulfilling and encouraging I have ever had in my dance career. Every day in Guinea, members of the surrounding neighborhoods came out to see me perform what I had spent the day learning. At the end of my short and rather unimpressive performance, I was met with cheers and smiles and congratulations, most of which were completely undeserved and overly generous.
These dance experiences transformed my perceptions of both myself and the meaning, or rather lack of meaning, of one’s ethnicity, class, and race.
As a result of my exposure to many different cultures, throughout a decade of world travel, I have come to see that these culturally defined boundaries are artificial and imaginary.
And so, as if in defiance to the values of a culturally and racially confining background, I created the dance company, Buen Ache, in 2006, and began this amazing journey of choreographing and directing an Afro-Latino dance company.
As if in tribute to my own refusal to stay in my place, this little dance company of mine has grown and diversified. Right now, we have 10 dancers of differing nationalities, including a West Indian, an Italian, a Mexican, a Vietnamese, a Costa Rican, a Puerto Rican, a French dancer, and a bunch of stubborn Americans who apparently don’t know that they are doing something quite outside of their cultural realm.
And now, without further adieu, it is my pleasure to perform with a few of my dancers, a dance called Merengue. Like almost everything else we do, this dance is a not a straight up Merengue, but a fusion of a lot of dance styles.
Thanks for having me this evening, and enjoy the dance.
PKN3′s Host and former PKN1 presenter Marcus Amaker wrote a haiku to introduce each presenter. Amaker is a prolific, talented auteur.
We’ve had a number of people request these and courtesy of Marcus, here they are.
Iverson can cook
He even fed Chevy Chase.
That, my friends, kicks ass.
Jane, the architect
has won a lot of awards
and I am in awe.
Julia shakes it
like a polaroid picture
give her your love.
Josh makes life better
By treating mother earth well.
that’s pretty damn cool.
With good photographs,
Kevin makes the world pretty.
the lens is his muse
Ryan and skateboards
Are a natural combo.
like butter and toast.
Kevin Hoth
Kevin Hoth is a multimedia artist, photographer, graphic designer and
teacher from Wisconsin. His work has has ranged from interactive sound
garments to video installations to solo powerpoint performances to
films mixed live with jazz ensembles. He earned an MFA (1999) in
Photography from the University of Washington in Seattle and worked at
the Center for Advanced Research in Technology and the Arts and
Humanities (CARTAH) as a faculty assistant. He has used digital
technologies creatively since 1995 and has exhibited photography,
digital images, video work, and solo performance work extensively in
the Northwest, Midwest, and Southeastern US. He has taught at the
University of Washington, The University of Georgia, The Citadel and
The Art Institute of Charleston. He has also lived in New Mexico,
Nantucket Island, Georgia, Spain, Washington State and Colorado. He is
currently a freelance photographer, co-founder of Hoitz & Nielsen (a
photography and design firm), and is part of the Photography Faculty
at The Art Institute of Charleston.
