This time around in ‘Greetings From’, we are rolling out with the past, present and future of skateboarding in the world-famous South African city of Johannesburg.
‘Jozi’, as she is affectionately known by her citizenry, has been actively skated for 30 years at this point, and it was thanks to pioneers like Pravesh Manga and his street hustling of skate gear that the scene began to grow.
Indeed, the theme of DIY is the through-line of our city report from the streets of South Africa- from Westdene DIY skatepark which was created from nothing by brothers Jarryd and Brandon Barnard, to Skate Society Soweto, fronted by the charismatic Sechaba TheBakersman.
As one of the friendliest and most unified skate scenes we have ever come across on our global journey to connect the grassroots skate cities around our wide world, what Johannesburg might lack in perfect surfaces it makes up for in perfect hearts.
As Levi Webb of Crow’s Nest skate-hut notes: “The people here really do make the place”.
Among those selfsame souls we connected with in Johannesburg is Thato Moet of the Island Gals skate crew, who have become the emerging face of what’s new in the Johannesburg skate scene, thanks in no small part to the sterling photographic work of local ripper Karabo Mooki.
“ It’s been a very interesting journey seeing the generational shift in skateboarding-” observes Mooki, as he takes us through some of his slides from the last 12 years of documenting the Jo’burg skate scene “- the adventures we got into….being able to see the sides of life a lot of people don’t see, that aren’t in the magazines.”
The idea of making it happen without expecting external help which is the leitmotif of the Johannesburg skate scene is epitomised most clearly by the admired and respected Beki Meijor, an entrepreneurial man-about-town who uses social media to trade in and deliver skate product across the city right to the spot where they are required:
“ I buy from whoever has, I sell to whoever doesn’t! ” is his can-do mantra- and one which makes him not only a pivotal face in the skate scene of the city but a symbol of it, as well.
Meet Beki, Mooki and more than thirty other faces who make up some of the close-knit city skate scene today as they welcome us into their skateboarding culture in ‘Greetings From Johannesburg’!
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27 сен 2024
