Thursday, January 20, 2011

Pecha Kucha & New Projects

Pecha Kucha - 19th Jan, 2011
First time presenting at Pecha Kucha and what a hoot it was! Presenters spoke about everything from initiatives in art, to the current state of the music business, the iconic monobloc chair, the art of sketching, the unique dubai benches project and very creative photography projects.


The Presenters:
Omar Jaramillo Traverso, an architect, an artist and part of the Urban Sketchers network - www.omar-jaramillo.de andwww.flickr.com/photos/omarpaint
Arnaud Humbert - Photographer - www.arnaudhumbert.com
Joshua F. Williams - Music producer, recording engineer and mixer - myspace.com/joshuawilliams , http://twitter.com/#!/record_pro
Mark Pilkington, a professor at the American University of Sharjah and a photographer - mpilkington @ aus.edu
Laura Egerton from Art Dubai/ Abraaj Capital Art Prize - www.artdubai.ae
Melina Mitri - PR & Marketing Exec. from funky upscale boutique S*uce - http://sauceloves.com/benches/, http://www.shopatsauce.com/
Hattie Bowering -  http://twitter.com/#!/hattiebowering
Jill Hoyle - Tashkeel - www.tashkeel.org
Gayathri Krishnan and Reiner Erlings (Producer/Songwriter and the Co-Musical Director of Movement) - http://twitter.com/#!
/thenightreiner
http://twitter.com/#!/GayathriMuses
(visit http://www.theculturist.com/home/pecha-kucha-dubai-on-19th-jan-2011.html for a detailed insight into all the presentations)


The day of...


A Few Glimpses of the Presentation Slides: Created by Reiner Erlings and Gayathri Krishnan
Video of the presentation is posted on the sidebar on the right.














The Dubai Benches Project: 




The best books read, the sweetest letters written, the smallest kisses planted, the biggest laughs laughed, have all happened on benches in various corners of the world. Whether we use it as a place to relax as you watch your kids play with bubbles, profess your love, sketch a stranger, drink some hot chocolate while you wait for the bus or just sit down to tie your shoe laces, the bench always cuts you some slack and gives you a moment. 


Why all the romanticizing of the bench? Well, popular shopping haunt S*uce are launching their latest community initiative, The Dubai Benches Project. It aims to increase the number of benches in Dubai so that people here can celebrate the stories told, the lives lived and the moments shared on benches.


How quaint and charming is that?! When I heard about this project from Melina and got some more info on it through her quirky presentation at Pecha Kucha last night, I immediately signed up to contribute to the cause. Different ways of contributing: Send in - 

1.       Photos  of your favourite bench (in Dubai or anywhere else in the world) and why you
         like it.

2.       Photos of a candid moment caught on a bench
3.       Photos of a space or area in Dubai where there should be a bench but isn’t.. (by the sea,     
         in a mall, in a park, by the road etc.)
4.       Any story or anecdote about something that happened on a bench
5.       Anything wonderful or inspirational like a sketch of a bench, a quote, a poem  … etc


The Contribution: 
As basic as a bench,  I'm working on a video that'll have me playing a song on my favourite bench in Dubai. 


Upcoming posts: 
Working on a duet with Tim Hassall in his home studio, Building props for a photo shoot on a shoe-string budget and Building a new and improved press kit. 

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