hip hop the wall⎪artefact
For one evening, London’s House of Vans, situated in Waterloo, wasn’t filled with skaters. Instead of the noise of skateboards rolling up and down the ramps, the city’s skating epicentre welcomed a Palestinian Plant-based hip hop charity dinner, organised by What The Fattoush?.
Funds were raised for SkatePal, a non-profit organisation founded by Charlie Davis, which works with communities in Palestine to share the benefits of skating amongst younger generations.
On arrival, we were welcomed into a room filled with different fashion items from Hype Peace, Done London and SkatePal’s merchandise. Works of art from artist and designer, Benny Normal, were also on display. The artist combines his graffiti writing skills with sculptures which are made with the use of 3D technologies. He exhibited a small collection of bright sculptures of half-eaten doughnutswhich brightened up the concrete space.
Graffiti culture and skateboarding culture have a history together, whether you decorate skateboards or skateparks such as London’s iconic cave on the Southbank.
“It’s a sport that you do together but you do it on your own and it’s not competitive. There’s no hierarchy. It doesn’t matter your age, your creed or your gender. In Palestine, there aren’t many sports that the boys and girls can do together.”
– Charlie Davis, SkatePal founder
The rest of the story continues on Artefact.
