PechaKucha Night made its debut in Warsaw at the end of last month, and now we get to hear from organizer Dorota Szopowska on how the launch went.
Hello from Warsaw!
Our first PechaKucha Night in Warsaw is over. For the last few days we have been working really hard. Everyone could hear about PechaKucha Night on the radio or television, read about it in magazines and websites or gain information from posters hanging all over Warsaw. We were wondering what can happen during the planed event, which name is so difficult to pronounce correctly.
The 22nd of October was fantastic, colorful and more. We estimate that there were about 250 people in the Łowicka Center that evening. I have a feeling that we surprised everyone.
The Łowicka Center was full of people. We had to place a second screen at the corridor. People were saying that the idea was great, new and so different from what they expected. We were welcomed by Mark Dytham, who said that PechaKucha is not Machu Picchu. Despite this fact, some presenters really soared into the sky! The 3K band added splendor to the occasion, performing on the stage until 8.20pm when the main part started. There were 14 presentations.
The first were representatives from MASSMIX group specializing in street activities. The second was Ralph Talmont, who presented his theory of Capitalism 2.0. Then young architect Gaweł Tyrała showed his concept of the architectural usage of containers. After him on stage appeared Agnieszka Stanasiuk from fabrics’ studio PRZESIEWALNIA and her geometrical projects. Next artist Daniel Mizieliński from graphic studio HIPOPOTAM made everyone laugh. His fairytales for kids cheered the audience. The spirit changed rapidly during the next presentation by Jacek Dębecki from ceramics workshop. His speech about the impact of handmade lamps on modern indoor was fascinating. At the end of the first part we had a chance to learn about Hindi ancient dance presented by Marcin Soszka and his special guest Ewa Domaszewicz, who is a professional dancer and a Sanskrit student.
The beer break is the indispensable element of PechaKucha Night. Now we know it! During the break we had time to chat. On the stage the 3K band was improvising and in the background you could watch the city loop presentation. People were sharing their first impressions, starting conversations with strangers, getting in touch with others. And the beer was as it should be – cool!
The first presentation after the break was Monika Nikodem, who designed a special game for blind children. The second presenter, Michał „Rysiek” Woźniak, spoke about freedom in culture. Then two girls from PAINHOUSE group, Klaudia K and Monika Jarosławska, enchanted the audience with their paintings and a very young photographer Agnieszka Deja showed her pictures of abandoned places. The real revelation were STREETWORKERZ, a hip hop band with a mission. They made a fantastic show. I’m sure everyone will remember them. Sergiusz Sawin talking about Future Centers from INNOVATIKA was also fantastic. Last but not least was the stunning Piotr Szczepański, who proved that PechaKucha is all about chatting. The audience was bursting out laughing, while he was interpreting his own graphics. At 11pm the 3K band performed their last song.
We can’t wait to organize the next PechaKucha Night in Warsaw! We were all euphoric, because of the atmosphere, presence of so many people, great presenters and all praises we earned.
The next day the amount of PechaKucha Night Warsaw fans tripled and it is still growing! We got enthusiastic reviews and we are happy that we can repeat this event. The second PechaKucha Night in Warsaw will take place in January or February in a different part of the capital city.
Best regards
Dorota Szopowska
PKN Warsaw
Centrum ŁOWICKAJoanna Maciejewska
Ula LipińskaUla Ścibor
Łukasz Wawrynkiewicz (photos)
Radek Katowicz
Below, a few more photos from PKN Warsaw Vol. 1 — there’s more to see in this Flickr photoset.
