" To be truly modern is undoubtedly to be electric. But will scooterists in rapture over their mid-century masterpieces ever embrace a new millennium’s modernism? Sticky in the Sahara: not the scooter’s natural habitat: but fun all the same "
Bikes in the City Part Two: Kampala Scooter Club
The capital of Uganda, central Africa’s landlocked nation, is a city like any other.
Its citizens need affordable transport – that’s fun and stylish too. Kampala city is well-known for its Boda Boda – the colourful taxi bikes that transport Kampala residents from place-to-place with a certain amount of panache. It should really be no surprise that there is a vibrant culture of Vespisti.
The heyday of Vespa sales in Uganda were in the dark but economically relatively affluent days of Idi Amin – and they represent the burgeoning modernism of the era in which they were first popular. Now, the bikes are testament to the resourceful make-do-and-mend attitude of the Kampalan people.
Photographer Ariel Tagar documented the scene.
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