What the F*ck is Shoefiti?
A combination of the words “shoe” and “graffiti”, “shoefiti” refers to the practice of throwing shoes up to dangle from telephone or power lines. Ed Kohler, a shoefiti enthusiast, coined the term himself in 2005, although kicks have been hanging around overhead for ages.
The real question is, why the f*ck would people spend time doing this? (Losing sweet sneakers in the process?) In the USA, popular word on the street reckons this practice is an indicator of drug dealing territories and gangland borders. While the validity of this theory is not confirmed in the US (shoes hanging around in white-picketed-suburbia may be an indicator of a coke dealer?), we’ve heard that shoefiti has different roots and traditions all over the world. OTP went deep into the world of hanging (and throwing) kicks to get some answers to your burning shoefiti questions.
New Zealand: Sport
As a general rule, sneaker-slingers prefer to remain unidentified when tossing tennis shoes on telephone poles. Trust our pals across the Pond to go against the trend. The Brits established a competition to see who could throw a Wellington boot – “Wellies” for short – the farthest. (Americans call these galoshes. Aussies and Kiwis call them gumboots. Others call them rubbers. Throwing rubbers in the US is a whole other story.) The Brits named this sport “Wellie Wanging.” It gets better. Techniques include the “blind wang” and the “double-handed wang.” Kinkerama.
In New Zealand, shoe-throwing has turned into a spectator sport and once a year, people converge on North Island for Gumboot Day. Recent newcomers to the boot-hurling bandwagon are Finland, Germany and Poland. Watch your head, Wanger.
Middle East: Insult
Who can forget that awe-inspiring moment a few years back, when former President, George “Dubya” Bush, almost received a shoe to the head? It’s fair to say that the alleged shoe-thrower, journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi, wasn’t playing sports or attempting to enlighten those around him with modern art . In the Arabic tradition, throwing shoes is about as disrespectful as you can get. Exposing the foot (the lowest part of the body) in any way, even by flashing your sole, is like saying someone is beneath you. Point taken.
Scotland: Sexy Scandals
In Scotland, guys throw their sneakers onto the power lines to celebrate (or more likely, announce ) when they lose their virginity. “Watch out world, there’s a new man in town”, caveman-style. A Scottish designer has even made a DIY kit to glam up the kicks you want to toss on that big, de-flowered day.
Cameroon: Americanization
Photo By: Santi
Photo By: Santi
Deep in the heart of Africa, in Cameroon’s town of Bafia (population: 55,000), shoes hang on a power line just outside the American Peace Corps training center. Stephen Swieton, a Peace Corps volunteer, is just as confused as we are over the adoption of this phenomenon: “Evidently, the kids here throw them on the lines because they see it on TV – the French stations show The Wire (dubbed, natch) and kids here think it’s way American. I’m honestly surprised because people here normally don’t throw away nice things like shoes, but being American is just way cool. Interestingly, these particular shoes now provide free housing for some birds. I guess it’s a form of recycling.” We’re not quite sure about people using The Wire as their source about American culture, but at least the birds have a nice, smelly place to hang, f*ck yea!
Cuba: Political Statement
Photo By: Anne-Marte
Footwear might be a relatively new medium for making political statements in America, but in Cuba, they’ve been using shoes for activism purposes for years. All around the country, particularly in Havana, shoes are hung in protest, said by some to represent the votes of the people that don’t count. “Zapafiti” (shoes = zapatos in español) is a symbol of freedom in a country that has long been repressed, particularly since the trend was imported from the freedom-loving United States.
Australia: Modern Art
Now that's dedication to an art form.
In the land Down Under, shoes are up and over telephone lines and poles aplenty. Australian artists like Nicolette Worth have been inspired to create entire collections and exhibitions based on shoefiti and the trend has been part of several guerillas marketing campaigns. Recently, shoefiti was given a starring role on the silver screen with the short film The Mystery of the Flying Kicks by Aussie film-maker Matthew Bates and featured at the Melbourne International Film Festival. Research for this film uncovered some astounding theories to explain the origins of shoefiti around the world. At the risk of sounding like artsy filmmakers ourselves, we’ll tell you that Bates asserts that the stranded shoes are “almost like a memory”. Inevitably, the presence of shoes demonstrates that at some point, someone intentionally left a mark on this territory.
End of an Era-Worldwide
Upon leaving the military, many servicemen throw their combat boots to celebrate their final days of active duty. For us plebeians, shoefiti is also an increasingly popular alternative to the standard cap-throwing shenanigans, rising in prevalence around May and June during graduation season. All over America, ‘shoe trees’ spring up, with entire trees covered in every type of shoe from stiletto to sneaker.
Now, when you see sneaks hanging in your hood, we hope you’re not so perplexed. Want more on smelly, hanging footwear? Follow shoefiti around the world on their website.
Traveling is my only healthy addiction. The more time I spend living abroad, the longer the list gets of places I need to visit and adventures I want to undertake.
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Never saw the tattoo before. Dedicated, this one
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You forgot Ontario’s shoe trees – a cottage country tradition
Funny and actually interesting post! Good job!
Room of shoes- Holocaust Museum, Washington DC
(exhibit showcases shoes of victims. Before entering the gas chambers shoes, hair, nail(maybe?)from victims were collected for commercial use/trade.
See more:
http://furtherglory.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/10000-shoes-at-majdanek-death-camp-were-burned/
http://resources.ushmm.org/inquery/uia_doc.php/query/4?uf=uia_QWtMkW
unrelated to the sport of “shoefiti”…just a reminder of how “shoes” narrate great stories/histories
I wonder if there’s any truth to the rumour that shoes thrown on telephone wires in some parts of the world are by residents trying to indicate where drug dealers lived?
In some cities of South Spain it means they sell drugs in the house that is closer to the shoe. It’s subtle marketing, sort of.
in guam, throwing shoes on telephone/power lines like that, means that you done did wrong!
ive heard its started out like a a ghetto tombstone, a memorial of where someone have died on the streets