LEWISTON — No matter how you pronounce Pecha Kucha, Baxter Brewery and Current Magazine will kick off another one beginning at 3 p.m. Friday in the Baxter taproom.
Friday night’s master of ceremonies, Jared Lussier, said the presentations will be centered on art and culture.
“Typically, the whole thing is supposed to be about art, but they can be about things community,” Lussier said.
This is the second time Current has hosted a Pecha Kucha. It hosted a series of discussions about community and design last fall as part of the Build Maine Conference.
Speakers lined up for Friday include sculptors, teachers and child development experts.
“Pecha Kucha” is a Japanese phrase that loosely translates as chitchat or chatter. A Pecha Kucha typically features between eight and 10 speakers, each with 20 slides that are on screen for 20 seconds each. It’s meant to focus the speaker on giving an engaging speech — not just reading text-heavy PowerPoint slides.
L/A Arts and local galleries have been hosting the presentations since 2011.
One question is how to pronounce Pecha Kucha. People have been confused about the proper way to say it long before the events first came to Maine or even the first U.S. Pecha Kucha in 2007.
There are two main camps. Some come down firmly on “puhCHOCKACHA” as proper: They say it quickly, like it’s one word with three quick syllables.
Others favor two words and four distinct syllables spoken more slowly: “Peh CHA Koo CHA”.
“Who cares how you pronounce it?” said Penny Drumm of L/A Arts. “Let’s just have one.”
Lussier said he’s more comfortable with the pronunciation “puhCHOCKACHA.”
“That’s what I’ve always called it,” he said. “I’ve worked with the people who hold the trademark on the event and that’s how they pronounce it.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
