Culture is a changing mechanism and as the time passes, it shapes itself according to the world around it. Everything from history and politics to social change can influence culture and it can shape it in new, original and bright colors.
Take the 1960s, for example. The days of the hippies came with a strong background on their history and they did not bloom out of nowhere. With a world split in two (between democracy and communism) as a result of the Second World War, with an America full of baby-boomers unsatisfied with their lives, with the wars in Korea and then in Vietnam, as well as with the “underground” cultures that had previously developed (the “beatnik” one, for example), the hippies had a very strong foundation for their social revolution.
Street culture was born together with the period following the epitome of hippy age, in those classes of society that were considered to be low until then. There are various forms of street culture out there and even if they were born in one part of the country only (mostly the United States), they have spread across the entire Globe in a fairly short amount of time.
Street Sports
Street sports are a sight to seen, when practiced well, real skill sports like skateboarding can be as graceful as gymnastics and as exciting as football. But as a street sport is far more accessible to a wider group of people. However, like other sports such as soccer, hockey, gymnastics and golf, street sports can require a high level of practice and good quality equipment to reach high levels, equipment such as Z-Flex Skateboards are therefore a must for anyone wishing to break out of amateur skateboarding and participate at competition level.
Street Music and Dance
Hip-Hop seems to be the defining word for most of the street culture out there. Born in the 1970s in the African-American community, it rapidly spread towards the mainstream culture and nowadays it is one of the most popular cultures in the world. From Sweden to Australia and from Nevada to Moscow, hip-hop music and dancing have adapted to the cultures met in various geographical places. The backbone of this music and dance stays the same in all the parts of the world though: social revolution against the privileged classes, “poetry music” and a specific kind of beat.
Street Art
Art can definitely take many shapes and forms and post-modern art shows this very well. From paintings portraying people with the precision of a photography to shapes, forms and colors that seem to not have much in common, art has evolved and changed with times and with our perception of what surrounds us. Street art is certainly a unique form of art that challenges the existence of a “proper” environment for producing and consuming art. Born out of protest slogans and out of various inscriptions on the wall, street art is very frequently condemned to be “vandalistic” even when it clearly sends a powerful message that is accessible to everyone precisely because of its location.