Short, sweet: PechaKucha #15

PechaKucha #15 took place last night as part of The Press Christchurch Writers Festival, so this one had a literary bent. The crowd was young, international and hip. 11 speakers fronted up and had 20 seconds and 20 images to explore their theme. In the PechaKucha spirit, I will keep it brief – no more than 20 words to convey each speaker:

Chris Turney // scientist & writer // on scientific exploration
1912, 5 expeditions to Antarctic, all doing science. Penguins in corsets, penguins punched in face.

Rachael King // novelist // on creepy ’70s & ’80s children’s television
Rocks with eyes,  these shows were made for kids WTF? I hope Red Rocks scares the bejesus out of kids.

Doc Drumheller // poet // on haiku In transit
Beautiful sights, beautiful words. Beautiful sites. Beautiful words.

Anke Richter // journalist // on being Kraut, becoming Kiwi – why stereotypes work
Bavarians are the Aucklanders of Germany. Kraftwerk were good Germans. Battle of Britain party in NZ? RAF=Red Army Faction.

Michael Smythe // design historian // on Christchurch by design: top per-capital performer?
Robertson Stewart. 1974 Commonwealth Games design. Bill Hammond chunky toys. Bill Hamilton. Tait. Skellerup. John Britten. Edmonds “Sure to Rise” branding was 5 years before Coke.

Marianne Elliott // zen peacekeeper, change-maker & storyteller // on superheroes & the importance of your origin story
Captain America – polio. X-Men – born different. Superman – alien. Batman – loss … family tradition of missionary service – Papua New Guinea, Africa, South America.

Elizabeth Knox // writer // on Mt Cook, 1954
Dad a mountain guide at The Hermitage. Climbing. No fear of falling. Here he is standing on a peak:  “See the cigarette in his mouth, that’s what eventually got him”.

Mark Spurgeon // graphic designer / on hand painted signage
Ah the serifs. The earthquake revealed wonders, took them away. 17 of the signs on these photos have disappeared.

Veronika Meduna // science writer // on science in Antarctica
Researchers have drilled down to the Pleioscene. The ice is an archive of information. Underwater alive with colour.

Ross Gumbley // playwright and Court Theatre artistic director // on ‘If life were like the movies’
Alpha Centauri watches our movies and make deductions about life on earth. We have L shaped sheets to cover nipples of the lady, while the man is barechested.

Rebecca Priestley // science historian and writer // on New Zealand in the atomic age
NZ scientists on the Manhattan Project. 1955 – uranium discovered in Buller Gorge. Nuclear testing. Strontium and caesium in our bones. Protest. Norman Kirk. Nuclear free New Zealand. David Lange. Rainbow Warrior. A decade of research for Mad about Radium.