P20-21 Layout 1

Established 1961 21 Lifestyle Features Tuesday, September 17, 2019 Ethiopian painter Robel Wolde, 25, sits inside his pimped Volkswagen Beetle, in Addis Ethiopian mechanic Kaleb Teshome, 29, poses in front of his pimped Volkswagen A woman walks past a Volkswagen Beetle in Addis Ababa. Ababa. — AFP Photos Beetle. hen Robel Wolde bought a beat-up 1967 The ‘car for everyone’ the Beetles have been brought in for standard tune-ups. WVolkswagen Beetle from a friend for 50,000 Initially developed in Nazi Germany as an instrument But every few months, Kaleb is asked to do the kind of Ethiopian birr (about 1,540 euros, $1,700), it of propaganda, the origins of the Volkswagen Beetle custom work worthy of “Pimp My Ride,” a show he still marked the start of an extensive restoration he’d plot- “people’s car” date back to 1938. Beetles became a com- watches online even though it was cancelled more than a ted for years. The 25-year-old Ethiopian painter mon sight in Addis Ababa under former emperor Haile decade ago. quickly went to work. He installed new grey leather Selassie, who ruled for more than four decades beginning “I’ve known the cars since my childhood. I know what seats, applied black stripes and decals along the in 1930. In 1974, when the communist Derg regime they need,” he said. “It could be paint work. It could be orange-and-blue exterior and hired a metalworker to removed him from power, Haile Selassie was famously big tyres. It could be a sound system. I pimp all of it.” One fit oversized headlights to the front bumper. Two forced to duck into a Beetle before being escorted away recent morning, he showed AFP his own “pimped-out” months and an additional $1,000 later, Robel’s vision from his palace. Decades later, Beetles remain ubiqui- Beetle, a shiny green-and-black 1972 model with massive was complete. tous, in part because exorbitant taxes make buying new tyres that would look more at home on a truck. “When I And with that, he joined the growing number of cars impossible for many. drive it on the street,” he said, “even people who drive lux- young Ethiopian drivers giving the Beetle-which has Yet it’s clear that the cars also have sentimental value. urious cars say ‘Wow.’” long occupied a hallowed position in the nation’s car When the Ethiopian-American novelist Maaza Mengiste culture-a 21st-century upgrade. Some of this restora- sees one, she says she is reminded of the pale blue Beetle ‘Part of history’ tion work is inspired by shows like the old MTV hit her grandfather drove-the same car that took her to the Whether “pimped-out” or not, the Beetles of Addis “Pimp My Ride”-”pimped out”, American slang for airport when she left the country as a young girl not long Ababa seem destined to become collectors’ items. In July, customized vehicles, has been adopted in Addis Ababa. after the Derg came to power. “I associate that car with Volkswagen marked the end of the Beetle’s around eight- But love for the Beetle in Ethiopia goes back decades, Ethiopia, with growing up there and all the happy memo- decade run by launching a limited, 65-unit “Beetle Final and is rooted in both economics and nostalgia. ries I have,” she told AFP. Edition” at its factory in Puebla, Mexico. Elias Wondimagegn drives his Volkswagen Beetle in Addis Volkswagen is hoping to capitalize on this goodwill. Last year, Mengiste started posting pictures of Beetles For Robel, the painter, the news was further validation Ababa. In January, it signed a memorandum of understanding on Twitter, using the hashtag #BeetleEthiopia. Ever since, of the investment he’d made in his own car. “If production with the Ethiopian government to set up a domestic Ethiopians from a range of backgrounds have been post- of the Beetles has stopped, that means we have a treas- auto industry, including an assembly plant. Regardless ing photos of their own, sometimes offering equally per- ‘I pimp all of it’ ure,” he said. “They will become part of history. That is of what comes of this project, Robel says the Beetle’s sonal memories. “There was something about a Like Mengiste, Kaleb Teshome, a 29-year-old mechan- their fate, so I think I am lucky. Even if I get a really good popularity will endure. “Most of the time, Beetles are Volkswagen that cut through social lines,” Mengiste said. ic, has been riding in Beetles all his life. For decades, his offer, I don’t think I will sell.”— AFP driven by old people,” he said, leaning on the bonnet of “It was a car for everyone. You could be looking for some family has owned a garage that specializes in fixing up the his car near one of Addis’ busier roundabouts. “But form of stability, and you would manage to buy a cars. Now Kaleb works alongside his father at the garage, when they are custom and pimped like this, they are a Volkswagen and that was your step into an upwardly where more than a dozen Beetles compete for space on a fashion statement for young people.” mobile but not extravagant social class.” tiny dirt lot, with others lining the nearby road. Many of ic Ocasek, the frontman of synth- released their final album, “Move Like heavy new wave innovators The This,” and briefly toured. “Ben and I had a RCars, was found dead Sunday in real cold war going that lasted about 23 New York, police said. He was 75 years years. I could never really figure out exact- old. The New York Police Department told ly why, but I think there was a lot of jeal- AFP they had received a call at approxi- ousy because I wrote the songs and I got a mately 4:00 pm (2000 GMT) for an lot of attention,” Ocasek told The New unconscious male at a townhouse in York Times Magazine in 2011, though he People walk past a hostel named ‘Bollywood’ in In this ﬁle photo Thai performers in traditional costume present the opening act during the IIFA Manhattan. He was pronounced dead at said the grudge had faded by the time Orr Mumbai.—AFP photos Awards of the 19th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) festival at the Siam Niramit Theatre the scene, police said, and the body was passed. The performer married three times in Bangkok. identified as Ocasek. There were no signs and had six sons. His third wife, model and of foul play, according to US media. actress Paulina Porizkova, had announced Under the leadership of the singer- the pair’s split on Instagram in 2018. songwriter and rhythm guitarist, The Cars brought the quirky electronic effects of new wave to classically structured, synthe- sizer-heavy pop songs, generating a string of hits such as “You Might Think,” “Shake It Up,” and “Drive” in the 1980s. They were among the early regulars on MTV, winning umbai hosts the “Bollywood Oscars” A shot in the arm India’s notoriously stuffy censors. the “Video of the Year” award for “You Mfor the first time in India in 20 years As the other nominees for best picture at the Revenues from the sale of digital rights bal- Might Think” at the first Video Music this week with the megastars, movers IIFA-spy thriller “Raazi”, swashbuckling epic looned nearly 60 percent in 2018, according Awards in 1984. Born Richard Theodore and shakers of a booming Hindi film industry “Padmaavat”, and middle-aged motherhood to the EY-FICCI report, with Amazon Prime Otcasek on March 23, 1944 in Baltimore, celebrating another bumper year, including in comedy-drama “Badhaai Ho”-underline, and Netflix among the major buyers. The Maryland, the artist moved to Cleveland, huge markets like China. With nearly 1,800 titles Bollywood has long ago moved on from the major streaming giants have started producing Ohio with his family as a teenager. released in 2018, the South Asian country is the cliched all-singing, all-dancing affair. The indus- original Indian content, splashing out on big- There, the lanky artist with his signature biggest film industry in the world in terms of try has also been attracting big, institutional money titles. Netflix, for example, recruited dark chin-length bob met Benjamin Orr, movies made, its flicks wowing viewers from capital and fresh talent, which have helped cre- Bollywood superstars Nawazuddin Siddiqui who would go on to be The Cars’ bassist, Australia to Afghanistan to Africa. ate greater variety and reaching out to wider, and Saif Ali Khan for its acclaimed series and the duo began playing the local bar The industry grew 12.2 percent in 2018, often younger, audiences. There were fears for “Sacred Games”. Last week, the streaming and club circuit. They moved to Boston in which included not only Hindi-language- the industry when major streaming services giant linked up with Karan Johar, one of the the early 1970s, founding The Cars in 1976 Bollywood-movies, but also titles in regional arrived in India a few years ago, changing the highest-profile producers in Bollywood, to after adding Elliot Easton on guitar, Greg languages like Tamil and Telugu, according to a way many Indians consume films. produce films and series exclusively for its Hawkes on keyboards and David Robinson report released in March by Ernst & Young and But the likes of Netflix and domestic players platform. “It’s going to be P.H.A.T-pretty hot on drums. The band found widespread the Federation of Indian Chambers of like Hotstar have instead been a shot in its arm, and tempting,” said Johar.

Load more