Ulrike Reinhard
concrete. The kind of place many skateboarders dream of. And because the people behind it work in a spiri# Ulrike Reinhard in Telč
Friday, July 3rd 2026, 16:30 CET — Opening of Skate Art Exhibition Saturday, July 4th 2026, 10:00 CET — Ulrike Reinhard in Telč: Public Talk
Venue: Ground floor of Telč Town Hall (Friday) / University Center Telč (Saturday) Friday opening — invited guests only. Saturday talk — tickets 250 CZK, available online. Details coming soon.
Contact: Jakub Šafář · +420 730 131 779
Something rather wonderful is happening¶
Ulrike Reinhard is coming to Telč.
She's coming because she heard about a skate art deck exhibition, a growing community of changemakers, and a skatepark opening in a small UNESCO town in the Czech highlands — 59×19 metres, bowl and street, top-quality t very close to what she helped build in a village in India called Janwaar.
Who is Ulrike Reinhard¶
Economist, activist, author, catalyst for change.
- Economist from a German elite university
- 9× TEDx talks — NATO, Google, Harvard, MIT
- Founder of the skatepark in Janwaar village, India
- Author of The Janwaar Way and memoir The Nomad (spring 2026)
- Upcoming documentary film about Janwaar
Widow, mother of one. Nomad and world traveller — she has visited more than 100 countries.
Ulrike is not a theorist. She's someone who went into a village without a plan, with two rules, and let the community find its own way.
Ulrike's website: https://ulrikereinhard.com/
Janwaar — a village, a skatepark, two rules¶
Madhya Pradesh, India. Castes, feudal system, stagnation. In 2014 Ulrike built a skatepark in the middle of the village. No grand plan. Just two rules:
Rule 1: No school → no skateboarding. Result: school attendance rose by 50%. Children chose education themselves — not because they were forced, but because of skateboarding.
Rule 2: Girls first. Result: girls claimed space that had always been denied to them. They crossed caste boundaries. They became leaders — on skateboards and in the community.
Ten years of visible change. From that came The Janwaar Way — nine principles for how to be, when you're changing things.
Asha Gond¶
A girl whose future the system had already decided. Today she is a national skateboarding champion, director of Barefoot Skateboarders Org., and the protagonist of the book Skater Girl Asha. A role model for girls across India.
Her story will be part of the talk.
What Ulrike Will Talk About in Telč¶
Saturday July 4th, from 10:00:
- The story of Janwaar and The Janwaar Way
- Asha Gond and Girl Power in practice
- How to become the change — the changemaker journey
- Connecting to the Czech reality and Skate Club Telč
Full programme TBC. After the talk: discussion and informal gathering.
The connection¶
Skate Club Telč was not inspired by Janwaar. It grew independently — from the same instinct, the same belief that community is built through practice, not theory. We found the same words only later.
When Ulrike heard about what we're doing in Telč, she recognised the spirit immediately. She called it a meaningful thread between two communities that share the same values. We think that's exactly right.
She's coming to see what the principles look like when they're alive in a different context, a different culture, a different scale.
Skate Art Exhibition 2026¶
The Friday opening (July 3rd 2026, 16:30 CET) launches an exhibition of artwork on skateboard decks by local and regional artists.
Skateboarding and culture are not separate things. The Janwaar skatepark is covered in murals. Our exhibition is covered in stories.
More about the exhibition: SkateArtStudio
Come¶
Friday opening — free entry, private. Saturday talk — tickets 250 CZK, available online. Details coming soon.