For this Place Presents we will let the person who made the video do most of the talking. Damian Gribl spent a while in South Africa, or S.A. as many call it. Judging by this video he met many new people and made multiple new friends. Enjoy his and Kyle Kheswa’s words about the project and Joburg’s scene more broadly.
Video, Photos and interview by Damian Gribl.
In January 2024 I went to visit my friend Mark Linsi in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The funny thing is I only knew Mark from a little skate session three years ago when he was visiting his sister in Munich, Germany. So, when the flights were booked it was kinda crazy to realize that I was going to fly to the other side of the world to see a guy I’d only met once before, living in his house with his family for a month and a half in a completely unknown country to me.
The Linsi family was super welcoming and I was introduced to the current skate scene. During one of the first skate sessions, I met Kyle Kheswa who I ended up hanging out and filming with the most. I interviewed Kyle about the former skate situation in Jozi (the common word for Johannesburg):
Kyle:
“When I was younger, there was a lot more going on in skateboarding. Pro demos, tours, comps, and full-length videos all contributed to this energy and the idea that skateboarding was much bigger than just you practicing Kickflips in your driveway. You wanted to be a part of that, and that’s something I think the younger generation of Joburg skaters never really got to experience. There is no drive to be a part of it anymore because there’s nothing to be a part of … anymore!“
Damian:
The most practical way to get around the city is to drive, so we did a lot of driving from spot to spot.
Mark was busy most of the time, so Kyle would pick me up at Mark’s house in Randburg most days. We’d hit up homies who we thought would be down to mission with us, go pick them up, and then we’d go skate and film. We started to become our own little squad with the unified goal of making a Johannesburg skate video that we were stoked about. We only had four weeks to film during the hottest month of the year in a city that isn’t necessarily the best for skateboarding.
Kyle:
“It was hard, sore, and tiring at times, but I will forever remember this month of January 2024 as one of my best memories. Johannesburg is grimy, it’s gritty and dangerous, it’s fast-paced and non-stop, and it’s definitely not for the faint of heart, but we still love our city so much. it’s the greatest shitty city in the world!”
-Kyle Kheswa
