Young creatives lead PechaKucha at Digifest 4


Multi-media designer,  Zwelisha Giampietri


PechaKucha which has been a popular feature on the Arts and Design Digital Festival (Digifest) for the last three years, culminated day five of Digifest 4 which was filled with a host of prominent speakers in the world of arts, design and digital media.

Young creatives took to the stage at this year’s installation of the PechaKucha which took place at DUT City Campus’ Arthur Smith Hall.   

This year some of the speakers included Photographer, Llwellyn Makhanya; Civic Data Activist, Richard Gevers; Developer, Mark Stuart; Music, app developer, Brad Vause; Multi-media designer,  Zwelisha Giampietri; Journalist, Sihle Mthembu; Designer & Rapper, Bylwansta and more will be sharing their passions in 20 images, with each lasting 20 seconds.

Makhanya who is a portrait photographer based in Durban describes himself as a documentary photographer always seeking to be a voice for those who want or cannot speak for themselves.

“Passion wise I am inspired by people specifically faces and how they make sense without being verbal I love photographing people’s faces whether it’s in a studio or in an informal setting”, said Makhanya.

Gevers said the PechaKucha format inspires creativity by imposing constraints upon the presenter just as the Haiku format does with unrhymed verses.

Vega School graduate, Zwelisha Giampietri prefers to call herself a multi-skilled designer and has vast experience in the advertising and the retail clothing industries.

She is currently working full-time at Amanda Laird Cherry Apparel, an established South African designer label. She likes researching ideas and putting together proposals, art direction and production, collaboration and optimising creative processes. She lives for nature, music, good food, culture and beautiful, colourful things.


PechaKucha, which means "the sound of conversation" in Japanese, was first conceived by Tokyo architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham, who were seeking a way to encourage student presenters to use PowerPoint in a more organised and succinct manner.

-MONGI KHANYILE

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