On February 24, members of the GW community gathered for the Corcoran's first PechaKucha Social Hour. Faculty members from across the arts discussed their thoughts on "Art as a Bridge,"and then mingled with the audience for further conversation.
The PechaKucha format, as Corcoran Director Sanjit Sethi explained, consists of twenty slides displayed for twenty seconds each. The format allows speakers to present ideas or work in a concise way, without the usual "bloviation" that often occurs when you "hand someone some pictures and a microphone." The Corcoran PechaKucha presentations are more freeform, with faculty members showing short dance clips, performing a Stephen Foster song related to a historical diary entry, taking us on a tour of their global art travels, and communing with the universe in the liminal spaces of sleep. The evening's presenters represented a wide variety of the arts:
- Robert Baker, Department of Music
- Alexander Dumbadze, Department of FAAH—Art History
- Lynn Sures, Corcoran Fine Art Program
- Maida Withers, Department of Theatre and Dance
The social hours provide an opportunity for faculty members to share their work with the community and get to know each other and their students better. There will be a PechaKucha event every month, with more dates to be announced soon.
