Pecha Kucha comes to Maastricht

A chat with Jean-Paul Toonen, head of T36 Media, on the “Pecha Kucha” phenomenon.
Interview by Howard Hudson for Crossroads Magazine.

Pecha Kucha – what is it? The cousin of Pocahontas? A city in the tropics? No, it means chit-chat in Japanese — and a whole lot more in English.

Pecha Kucha is a new phenomenon created by Western architects living in Tokyo. The platform can be used by anyone — artists, designers, inventors and scientists — to explain or win attention for new ideas.

The concept is simple: quickfire presentations on stage, with images and music. They can be about social and cultural topics, science and innovation, whatever. But the framework is uniform: 20 slides and 20 seconds per slide, making 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

Maastricht is next on the roll call of cities to take up the idea. As local producer Jean-Paul Toonen explains, it could give Maastricht the edge over its rivals for the Capital of Culture award 2018.

More information: Pecha Kucha Maastricht

Next Pecha Kucha Night in Maastricht: 20 June 2009