KOCHI: Skateboarding is not just a sport or a hobby, it is a lifestyle, even a form of art. And skateboarding decks have always been a canvas for expression, whether it’s through unique designs or custom artwork. This is where Merkabah comes into the picture.
Founded in 2019, Merkabah is a Kochi-based brand that combines the passion for skating and the love for art. The brand’s creator, Francis Kurien, aka Franky, has been a skater for almost nine years. However, rather than plain old boards, he wanted something that adds value to his craft. “There’s both a skater and artist within me. And, Merkabah is a combination of both these personalities,” Franky says.
“I kept making boards of different styles and shapes. Then, I collaborated with one artist. That’s when I realised many artists around the world would like to paint on or even design a skateboard,” recalls Franky. So Merkabah sends blank decks to different artists who add their expressions to the board, making them one-of-a-kind.
And the result is a range of hand-painted, hydro-dipped, stickered, and heat-pressed boards in funky caricatures taken from Indian roots. As a brand, Merkabah wants to build a community of collectors driven by art and providing different contracts where a percentage of the primary sale goes to the artist.
In 2021, the brand sold its artwork as NFTs, sparking the idea that all their skateboards could be unique tokens since they are already distinct physical items.
With the integration of NFTs, Merkabah has made it easier to prove the authenticity of the original product, artist, and buyer, says Franky. “My artist friend, Elwin Charly got me into NFTs. That is when I realised that there was a way I could tokenise my skateboard collection,” he explains.
And Franky says Merkabah boards have a unique audience for its products. “It’s not made for skaters alone, but also for board and art collectors.” Currently, the company is working on an auction website and providing NFT physical chips to enable the ultimate trading of skateboards.
“It took some time to merge both. Currently the boards are all available as NFTs. It’s the buyer’s choice to pick it up as an NFT or as a normal sale,” says Franky. Merkabah is perhaps one of the first skateboard brands in India to merge its physical and digital assets by collaborating with more than 100 NFT artists.
Skimboarding passion
In addition to Merkabah, Franky founded another brand called SkimB with his friend Sreekumar in 2022. Skimboarding is a water sport similar to surfing that involves riding a skimboard, on shallow water surfaces such as beaches, shorelines, and tidal flats. Once considered a niche sport, skimboarding has grown into a global community, with thousands of enthusiasts. While Merkabah is based on artists and collectors, SkimB is focused on skimboarding and community building.
With SkimB, the goal is to bring more attention to the sport through social media and online platforms, allowing skimboarders to share their experiences and inspire others to take up the sport. “Skimboarding can be a gateway to many other water sports. I’m pretty sure once you start skimboarding it will eventually open doors to other water sports,” Franky remarks.
One of the key ways SkimB is supporting the community is by creating high-quality boards. “We handshape wooden flatland skimboards and keep them affordable for the community to experience and start from zero. It took nearly two years for us to develop the method,” Franky claims. SkimB will sell skimboards, body boards, merch, organise coaching classes, host events, beach cleanups, and more.
Along with manufacturing skimboards, SkimB also offers skimboarding classes. “We started the classes in Vypin in Kochi. So far, we have taught more than 100 people and that’s when we realised it was time to take it to the next level,” Franky recounts. The ultimate aim of both ventures is to build a culture merging art and sports. “Our source of power is purely the fun-loving passionate community. There is so much we can do with their support,” says Franky.