Nearly 400 PechaKucha veterans and newbies packed the John Dutton Theatre at the Central Library November 23rd, noshing on bruschetta and veggies while being inspired and informed. Fittingly, for a PKN sponsored by East Village, the theme was “Reclaim”.
Kris Vester spoke quickly – PechaKucha presenters speak to 20 slides for just 20 seconds each – about the marvels of slow food and how we can reclaim the acts of eating and hospitality. Lorna Crowshoe divulged the Blackfoot name for Calgary – Moh’ kins stisis, or elbow – perhaps a reference to the bend in the landscape created by the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers. Wildlife Biologist Brain Johns shared the beauty of a whooping crane mating dance as the endangered species struggles to ‘reclaim’ its rightful place in the ecosystem.
When Jesse Moffat, Manager of Collections and Artifact Care at Cantos/National Music Centre, stepped up to the podium to show off some of the painstaking restorations in the Cantos collections, 20 seconds per slide didn’t seem nearly long enough to absorb the magnificence of the Italian harpsichord built by Vito Transitino in 1590, the rare, funky Hammond Novochord, one of the first fully polyphonic synthesizers, or the recording console used by Hendrix, the Stones, Van Morrison, Bjork and other musical luminaries – among many, many others. We can’t wait for this astounding collection to move into its planned new home at the National Music Centre at the King Eddy in East Village. But we think we’ll let professional piano movers do the heavy lifting.
Blogger Mike Morrison may have wrapped up the evening with a resounding call to embrace our “one shot at that giant Stampede parade we call life”, but it was Sonny Tomic, Manager of Centre City Planning and Implementation, who left us with the memorable words Genius Loci – spirit of place. And when he shared with us his vision of Calgary’s Genius Loci, that of humanely-scaled places, we couldn’t help but think he was talking about East Village.
