Pecha Kucha Night Ostrava: Volume 10

PechaKucha Night [peča kuča najt] is the name of an evening that showcases the most interesting personalities in design, architecture, and other creative fields. The event, held in over 580 cities worldwide, will take place on Saturday, December 15, in Ostrava for the tenth time. And because interest in this event is huge, it will be the third largest PechaKucha Night in the world, with only Tel Aviv and London hosting more attendees.
“The tenth PechaKucha Night Ostrava is not just a celebration of the anniversary; it aims to become one of the most important events in the field of Czech design and architecture this year,” encourages participation Pavel Polok, one of the organizers, adding “Gong Pleskot, packed with accompanying programs and presenting the most prominent names – all for free. The Czech Republic has never experienced an event like this before.”
The foundation of PechaKucha Nights is the 20x20 format, where each presentation has exactly 20 slides, and each slide is shown for 20 seconds. The 6-minute, 40-second presentations do not bore with too many details and aim to inspire participants. Presenters are the most interesting personalities from creative fields, ranging from architecture and design to photography, visual arts, fashion, and civic initiatives.
This is confirmed by the lineup that will present at the tenth edition in GONG: Maxim Velčovský, Vladimir 518, Jiří Pelcl, Denisa Nová, Jaroslav Róna, Petr Hrůša, Milan Jaroš and Matěj Stránský, Vladivojna La Chia, Dita Pepe and Barbora Baronová, Milan Cais, and Jiří Surůvka.
The Ostrava branch of this project, which originated in Japan, boasts several unique features. As the only one in the world, it always moves to different spaces; it has been held in places like Důl Michal, the hall of the New Town Hall council, and most recently at the Evangelical Church. Another interesting fact about PechaKucha Night Ostrava is that it is completely free, but due to high interest, attendees need to secure tickets, which were sold out within hours.
Information about the event itself, guests, and photos from past PechaKucha Nights can be found on the Facebook page of the event or on the official website.

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Profiles of presenters at the tenth PechaKucha Night Ostrava

Maxim Velčovský
A graduate of the AAAD in the ceramics and porcelain studio, recognized for his distinctive hairstyle, founder of studio QUBUS, and winner of the Grand Designer of the Year award in 2007. He is one of the biggest personalities in contemporary Czech design, best known for his home accessories; his vases, cups, and porcelain digital clocks belong to the gold fund of Czech design and provide an important commentary on the time. He enjoys working with the theme of kitsch, traditional patterns (such as onion patterns), or objects from the pre-revolution era.

Jaroslav Róna
Sculptor, painter, glass artist, ceramist, set designer, and much more. A member of the comedy group Tros Sketos, famous for the jingle of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, for which he also composed music. A founding member of the legendary group Tvrdohlaví. His most famous works can be found in public spaces, including the Kafka Monument in Prague and Oskar, as well as the sculptures Sepia and Knight with a Dragon, which adorn the Klenová Castle near Klatovy. In 2007, he won the Bibliophile of the Year award for the illustration of a novella by Franz Kafka.

Jiří Pelcl
One of the most influential figures in design in the last 30 years. He teaches at the AAAD, where he previously served as rector. His glass production, especially his beverage glass collection, is associated with numerous international accolades, including the National Design Award, Form 2006 in Germany, Design Plus 2007 in Germany, and Czech Grand Design for Designer of the Year 2007. In addition to design, he also engages in architecture, which he originally studied. He has implemented numerous interiors of prestigious buildings (interiors for President Václav Havel in Prague Castle, embassies in Rome, Pretoria, Czech House in Malmö, and others). In addition to his creative work, he also writes and lectures on design theory.

Vladimir 518
VLADIMIR 518 is one of the longest-serving rappers in the Czech hip-hop scene, a member of the group PSH, and founder of the label Bigg Boss. Along with PSH, he has released two long-playing records, a split single with Indy & Wich, and an EP Praha, featuring many guest artists. Vladimir 518 is also known as a prominent figure in the graffiti scene, an illustrator, comic artist, and author of stage designs for the experimental group TOW (Nightmare, Turing Machine, and Theory). As a side project of this theatrical activity, he and David Vrbík established the project SPAM, which specializes in audiovisual synchronization of sound and light. His latest work is the book City=Medium, which follows the successful collaboration between Bigg Boss publishing and the urban projects BU2R, which unexpectedly released the successful publication TRIBES last year.

Milan Cais
He studied sculpture, and his paintings and objects have been part of exhibitions all over the world, from the Expo in Aichi, Japan, to the Orbis Pictus exhibition in Linz. He is best known for his musical career with the band Tatabojs. Even within this framework, he does not hide his artistic side – for the conceptual album Nanoalbum, he created or co-created the booklet, Nanoklip, and illustrated the book Nanobook, which won several awards, including the Minister of Culture award for the 3rd best book of the year. He also creates under the pseudonym p3D-01.

Jiří Surůvka
Jiří Surůvka is one of the most prominent figures in Ostrava's cultural life. Although he has never studied fine arts, he is primarily perceived today as an artist, but that certainly does not end there. He engages in many projects, from new media to theatrical and cabaret performances to cultural policy, from demonstrations and performances in Batman costumes to curating exhibitions and communicating with the city. He is the lead educator of the New Media department in the interdisciplinary studio of the Institute of Art Studies at Ostrava University.

Denisa Nova
Denisa Nová is currently among the top Czech fashion designers. She creates under her own brand DNB and runs two artistic studios, one in Prague and one in Brno.
In addition to compact collections that she launches on the market regularly twice a year, Denisa Nova participates in many activities focused primarily on contemporary design and clothing creation, but she also creates her own projects with a much broader artistic scope than clothing design itself.
Her works were showcased at Expo 2010, and she has won many prestigious national awards, including Fashion Designer of the Year, and is a frequent guest at foreign events, such as Paris Fashion Week or Vienna Fashion Week.

Vladimír Skórka
Known as Vladimír from the duo Tobi and Vladimír. Currently, they have an evening show on Evropa 2 radio, but previously, they moderated the show Sabotáž or performed on Helax radio. In addition to moderating, Vladimír also shot a trio of fictional documentaries on controversial topics and co-owns an advertising agency specializing in corporate identity and short videos – including an unprecedented political ad in the Czech Republic for Pavol Lukša.

Dita Pepe and Barbora Baronová
Dita Pepe belongs to the generation of young Czech female photographers from the early 21st century. In the past, she focused almost exclusively on documentary photography, but now her work also includes fashion. She drew attention with her series dedicated to portraits - Self-Portraits, in which she photographed herself with women of various ages, characters, and social standings.
Barbora Baronová is a writer, copywriter, journalist, and musician; she has several children's books, including a short story in the book Seven Women of Doctor Cynical.
Dita and Barbora are co-authors of the book Misses, which deals with unmarried women.
 
Petr Hrůša
The architectural studio bearing his name is among the best in the Czech Republic. His list of realizations includes buildings such as the Vaňkovka Gallery in Brno and the reconstruction of the House of Arts of the City of Brno. The Ostrava audience will be interested to know that Petr Hrůša is behind the new interior of the iconic café Elektra.

Vladivojna La Chia
Vladivojna studied at the interdisciplinary studio of Petr Lysáček in Ostrava. She primarily focuses on painting, drawing, comics, and watercolor. Her music for the film Innocence by Jan Hřebejk was nominated for the Czech Lion and the Czech Film Critics’ Award. Vladivojna also writes short stories, poetry, lyrics, and fables. She enjoys combining and intertwining all of these artistic fields. Her latest album Bohemians was accompanied by the book Vladifables and watercolor illustrations. Part of her concerts also includes an author’s reading or exhibitions. She will present herself in all her glory at the Ostrava Pecha Kucha.

Matěj Stránský and Milan Jaroš
The duo of photographers Jaroš/Stránský is a gem of the social magazine Respekt. While Milan Jaroš has collaborated with many foreign newspapers and magazines such as The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, or Courrier International, Matěj Stránský has published in magazines such as Reflex, Živel, Hype, or Monitor on Psychology.
For his photographs, he has received numerous awards in Czech Press Photo and international competitions, with Milan Jaroš and his photo report from the farewell of Václav Havel even winning this year’s Czech edition of the competition for the best news photo.