GNAR CONNECT RIO

Cover photo

GNAR CONNECT RIO brought together skateboarding, art, music, print, film and community in the same space. It happened in Rio de Janeiro at Lado B, with a program shaped by people already building inside this scene.

The night marked a series of releases and milestones: Vlad's birthday, the launch of his Soma Skateshop signature deck, the release of the GNARS x NOGENTA collaboration, the premiere of the new NOGENTA skate film, the launch of NOGENTA ZINE 01, and the opening of a new Skatehive mini ramp.

GNAR CONNECT gave all of that a common ground. More than an event, it worked as a live snapshot of what the Gnars ecosystem looks like in practice: builders organizing, local scenes connecting, cultural work being released in public, and people gathering around something real.

"The most important thing launched that night was another reason for people to come back."

What GNAR CONNECT Holds Together

GNAR CONNECT is a physical meeting point for a broader network that already exists across skateboarding, open-source culture, independent publishing, design and Web3. The format matters because it gives that network a place, a rhythm and a public face.

The Luma event page framed the night as a gathering around launches and premieres. GNAR CONNECT RIO also showed how decentralized communities grow when the work moves beyond chat rooms and feeds into places, objects, media and relationships.

Why This Night Mattered

Vlad organized GNAR CONNECT RIO around several milestones that were already in motion. His birthday gave the event a personal center. The Soma signature deck anchored it in skateboarding. The GNARS x NOGENTA collaboration brought a product collaboration into the room. The film premiere and zine launch expanded the night into media and documentation. The mini ramp opening gave the gathering a lasting physical result.

Taken together, those elements showed how a decentralized cultural network actually operates. Releases are part of it. So are friendship, local organization, physical space and repeated presence.

Lado B

Lado B gave the event the right setting. It works as a cultural space with room for skateboarding, exhibitions, music, conversation and independent programming. That combination shaped the tone of the night from the beginning.

The place matters because scenes need places. They need somewhere to meet, screen work, launch products, build structures and stay in circulation. Lado B held all of that at once.

The second floor of Lado B featured an exhibition by Mano.Wlad, showcasing works connected to skateboarding, urban culture and independent art. The exhibition remains open to the public Wednesday through Saturday, from 1:00 PM to 7:00 PM, at Rua Primeiro de Marco, 14 - Centro, Rio de Janeiro.

Mini Ramp Opening

The new mini ramp gave the event a physical center and left something behind that will keep working after the crowd goes home.

Skate scenes grow around places that people return to. It gives skaters a reason to come back, session after session. That kind of infrastructure matters because it builds continuity at street level.

Supported onchain through a community crowdfunding campaign.

GNARS x NOGENTA

The GNARS x NOGENTA collaboration came out of a shared visual language shaped by skateboarding, DIY graphics, publishing and local identity. The products felt aligned with the room they were launched in.

That alignment gave the collection weight. It read as part of a broader scene, not as a detached drop. The graphics, materials and presentation carried the tone of the collaboration clearly.

Created by builders Yan Felipe and Humberto Peres, representing Nogenta, the street audiovisual collective, and Barracao Skate Shop, the collection was officially launched during GNAR CONNECT. Developed through a Gnars DAO proposal, it explores creative products as a tool for expanding the DAO's cultural reach while generating sustainable revenue through the creative economy.

Soma Signature Deck

Vlad's Soma Skateshop signature deck gave the night a direct connection to his own path inside skateboarding. Signature decks carry recognition, history and local meaning. This one landed in the right setting.

It also kept the event grounded in skateboarding as practice, not just reference. The deck was part of the night's visual field, but it also carried the story of who organized it and why people showed up.

Maple BBS, available in 8.0, 8.25 and 8.5

NOGENTA ZINE 01

The release of NOGENTA ZINE 01 added a print layer to the night. That mattered because print still gives scenes a durable way to document themselves. A zine can circulate by hand, stay on shelves and move outside platform logic.

For skate culture, that format still holds value. It gives photography, text and sequencing a different pace. It also turns a moment into something people can take home and revisit.

Skate Film Premiere

The premiere of the NOGENTA skate film brought moving image into the center of the event. Skate films do more than record tricks. They document rhythm, architecture, style, friendship and the way a local scene sees itself.

Watching the film inside Lado B gave it the right context. The crowd on site was part of the same environment the film came from. That made the screening feel connected to the room instead of separate from it.

Music, Friends and Social Infrastructure

The night moved through DJ sets, rock, food, conversation, birthdays, product tables, skate sessions and people crossing paths. Builders, artists, skaters and friends occupied the same space without needing a rigid structure around them.

There is also a longer history behind that room. This family of skaters and artists has been building together for years through the XV collective and other projects. That shared path gives GNAR CONNECT RIO more depth. It shows a network that has stayed together through different phases, different projects and different moments across roughly fifteen years.

Skateboarding is a strong foundation inside that story. It keeps this tribe connected over time, even as the formats around it change. Shops, films, zines, events, music, brands and collaborations come and go, but the skate bond remains active and keeps people moving together.

That social layer is part of what keeps scenes alive. Projects continue because people know each other, trust each other and keep meeting in real life. GNAR CONNECT RIO made that visible.

Marcelo Marbal's 50th birthday added another thread to the atmosphere and widened the timeline inside the room. Different generations, roles and practices shared the same space. That gave the night more depth.

Gnars DAO in Practice

GNAR CONNECT RIO showed one clear side of Gnars DAO: support for builders, local communities and action sports culture through real-world work. The result was visible in the ramp, the collaboration, the zine, the film, the deck, the space and the people who filled it.

This is part of what decentralized public goods can look like when they connect to culture directly. Not only online coordination, but spaces, products, documentation, friendships and repeated activity around a shared scene.

The same ecosystem also leaves room for surfing, art, publishing, music, physical product design, technology and open-source thinking. GNAR CONNECT brought those threads into the same frame.