Vans South Africa is excited to release Briberies – the latest video from their South African Skateboarding team. Briberies focuses on three friends who grew up skateboarding together, who persevered through many obstacles to become some of the most talented and hardest working skateboarders in South Africa right now Street skating in South Africa is not an easy task – rough spots, crime and life in general makes it challenging to get footage, let alone 13 minutes of it.
Featuring Ethan Cairns, Alex Williams, Devandre Galant, Thalente Biyela, Tkay Modise, Kyle Kheswa, Joubert van Staden, Trae Rice, Yann Horowitz, Melissa Williams, Chenai Gwandure and Daniel Miltiadou.
Jaakko Ojanen, Jackson Pilz, Chennai Gwandure and Yann Horowitz brought the stoke energy to Accra and Nairobi on a skate trip that was inspiring and humbling in equal measure.
In celebration of Go Skateboarding Day, Vans proudly announces a new partnership with Skateistan, the award-winning international non-profit organization which empowers youth through skateboarding and education in Afghanistan, Cambodia, South Africa and supports other social skate projects around the world.
Featuring Vans ambassador and Skateistan board member, Tony Hawk, Vans skaters Lizzie Armanto and Pedro Barros, as well as Skateistan ambassadors Kouv Chansangva (known as Tin) and Yann Horowitz.
Now through September, Vans will donate $10 USD from every pair of Vans Custom Skate Classics purchased from June 21 to August 30, 2021 – up to US$200k – to Tides Foundation in support of Skateistan.
So, ladies and gentlemen, if you have not already had the pleasure then allow us to introduce you to George Zuko – a candidate for raddest human in the world today. As with Sandy Alibo in Ghana, George has been a talismanic figure in the development of skateboard culture here in Kenya.
How about this: George is a skater who helps run skate camps at an educational orphanage where the country’s first skatepark resides. Think about that for a moment. Children sleeping on the streets are by no means uncommon in Nairobi, and George introduced us to two young rippers who once slept right by the local skate spot – and started skating as a result. With George’s introduction of skating into their lives, The Keedz (‘the pair’) are off the streets, enrolled in school, and ripping.
Samuel Mwangi and Ezra Nyongesa – everyone calls him Balo, though – proved constant companions for Jaakko Ojanen, Chenai Gwandure, Yann Horowitz and Jackson Pilz as our joy bus spent a week rolling around with the skate scene of Nairobi. Sam even shot Balo’s front board photo from this feature on his first try with a camera. Fast learner!
The Shangilia association which runs the educational orphanage space where the radiant skatepark resides work with hundreds of such children every day. Watch Patrik Wallner’s superb documentary on Jaakko and friends’ skate mission with the local rippers of Nairobi above.
Skate scenes in their infancy often have a guiding light, a champion and pioneer who evangelises and develops and agitates at the absolute grassroots level, to try and make things happen for the new people skating hooks every day once they have access to it.
This is happening all over the world right now, and it is the purest version of skateboarding’s promise. As a counterpoint to all the upriver skate activity going on in the world today, wonderful though that doubtless is, shining a light not just on these nascent scenes but the builders of those scenes is a dollop of wholesome radness nobody can have too much of.
So, when South African skate evangelis Yann Horowitz, Chenai Gwandure and Jackson Pilz suggested continuing Red Bull’s drop- ins with the diverse skate scenes throughout the continent by heading to Ghana to meet Sandy Alibo and the Accra skaters, Jaakko Ojanen leapt at the once-in-a-lifetime chance to bring his magic feet to the party. What was created proved to be a pivotal skate happening for the Accra scene; one which will never be forgotten by anyone involved. Absorb Patrik Wallner’s awesome film from the tour up top there, and roll back around in a week’s time as the squad roll into Nairobi, Kenya!
We discuss FA/Hockey “Dancing On Thin Ice Video”, Anderson Cooper talks with Tony Hawk about skateboarding, Nike SB Max Geronzi, The bay skated “sage” video, Lambrusco, Kareem Campbell and Axion Footwear, “Pride” Yann Horowitz’s Coming Out Day Story and much more!
After Yann Horowitz kissed his boyfriend in celebration of winning the Vans Park Series African Continental Championships in 2018, Yann’s fearless yet fabulous style became the talk of skateboarding. Yann realized his skating and sexual identity were becoming intertwined, and he had to ask himself, “Do I really want to be the ‘gay skateboarder’?” In the past five years, questions of sexuality and identity in our culture have come into the spotlight, and individuals like Yann have faced the complicated balancing act of being both an inspiration, and still holding on to who they are. In this short Coming Out Day documentary Skateism and Vans followed Yann back to his roots in South Africa, to find out more about where he came from and where he’s headed.
With so much of the skateboarding world documented to death, the quest for virgin terrain always provides its own allure. So while Jaws, Dakota Servold, Yann Horowitz and Barney Page rocked up in West Africa primarily to learn about and share skate culture with Aziz Wone, Ibrahima Paye, Jonathan Riven and their friends, Red Bull also naturally took the chance to film some full-throttle hammers on the largely untouched skate spots they found along the way.
After navigating the bustling streets of Dakar, Aaron Homoki, Barney Page, Dakota Servold, Yann Horowitz, videographer Patrik Wallner and Luke Jackson headed out into the ocean to Praia, the capital of a chain of islands called Cape Verde.
A tropical paradise, the first thing we found was a giant skatepark in the middle of the city, with a healthy skate scene of kids ripping. The trip started in Praia, where we were based for a few days and then we took to the road to see the rest of this gorgeous island.
There are over 1.2b people living in Africa at the moment. With skateboarding reaching the ends of the earth, from northern Russia to the Maldives, Uruguay to the Galapagos Islands, it only makes sense that, with such a large population, Africa should boast some respectable skate scenes as well, right?
Red Bull partnered up with Luke Jackson of South Africa’s ever-excellent Session Skate Magazine and set sail with Barney Page, Aaron ‘Jaws’ Homoki, Dakota Servold and Yann Horowitz to explore some of these burgeoning scenes, enrolling Patrik Wallner behind the lens to document the experience for sharing.
The Lost Continent, Produced for Red Bull Media House. Skateboarding by Barney Page, Yann Horowitz, TJ Rogers, & Remy Tav. Directed, Filmed and Edited by Patrik Wallner. Produced by Sam McGuire. Illustrations by Phoebe King.
