Endboss Projects from Hannover have collaborated with Free Movement Skateboarding, Eleonora Meoni and Maria Papadimitriou to build Europe’s first skatepark for young refugees.
Do you remember what you used to look forward to when you were growing up? If you’re one of the hundreds of children living in Eleonas Refugee Camp on the outskirts of Athens, you’re missing out on a lot of things other kids take for granted. Isolated from the rest of the city and squeezed into a scruffy industrial zone, there are no green, open spaces to play and it’s hard to find the space to breathe and be yourself.
“Souzy Tros hosts a skatepark and workshop atelier for the community, to be used as a place to gather, a comfort zone where to escape mentally and physically – the contemporary crisis”
So, it’s not surprising that one of the biggest things kids at Eleonas look forward to are their weekly skateboarding lessons, provided by Free Movement Skateboarding. Founded by Will Ascott and Ruby Mateja from the UK, this project has built a portable DIY skatepark, which they transport to a number of refugee camps around Athens. They teach over 150 children each week, making a particular effort to engage young girls, who face the biggest barriers to enjoying physical exercise in the camps.
“It’s a beautiful thing to see how happy and excited the skateboard lessons make the kids in the camp, they’re waiting for them the whole week” Explains Robin Höning, founder of Endboss Projects from Hannover, Germany. “But the refugee camp here in Eleonas is so excluded, separated from the rest of society. Being stuck in the camp, one of the biggest problems for young people here is that they can’t meet and mix with other kids from Greece and elsewhere. They see the same people every day.”
Robin began discussing the challenges faced by young refugees in Athens with Italian artist Eleonora Meoni, who is part of Pane Per Poveri collective and runs art classes with the kids from Eleonas. They realised they could make a significant intervention in the lives of young people from the camp when Greek artist Maria Papadimitriou heard their ideas and offered them the use of Souzy Tros Art Canteen, which she founded in 2012 with art critic Cathryn Drake, but had been empty since 2016.
“All these inspiring people had the rough idea to create a place together: a skatepark for teaching refugees to skate combined with an art school and with a strong community focus,” Robin explains. “I really liked the idea of a space which connects the worlds of skateboarding, art and all of the different people with diverse backgrounds who each wanted to contribute something unique to the project.”
A wide range of collaborators stepped up: Project Elea, a group of passionate volunteers based in Eleonas camp who offer educational, artistic and sporting activities for young people; Kassandras, a community-driven architecture collective, who offered to build furniture for the new space; and Free Movement Skateboarding, who would offer lessons; all under the coordination of Italian curator Barbara Mulas from Victoria Square Project. Plus, Isa, Malte, Stulle and Josch from 2er Skateboarding Foundation.
They had the ideas, the people and the space – but no money to make it happen. So, Robin decided to take the first step: with his friend and fellow skatepark builder, Ben Beofsich from the ALM-DIY in Vienna, Austria, he built the park’s first element, a concrete volcano ramp, then used this to generate interest around a successful crowdfunding drive to complete the park. Titan Cement company also stepped in as technical sponsor.
“We cannot predict the future or the consequences of any action. But one thing is for certain: if nobody starts to put the first brick, nothing is gonna happen, nothing’s gonna change at all.”
After DIY builds in their hometown of Hannover, taking part in the Spot Delivery Tour across Europe and Buildersjams in La Paz, Bolivia and Bangalore, India, completing the Souzy Tros park was the easiest part of the puzzle for Robin and his crew of experienced builders. They flew in from across Europe and over 10 consecutive days of working up to 16 hours, they completed the job with a massive concrete pour connecting each of the hand-built obstacles.
While lessons in the camps often suffer because of poor surfaces and a lack of privacy, one of the biggest advantages in offering skateboard lessons at this new purpose-built Souzy Tros space is that it offers a private, enclosed space to teach sport for young women – away from the prying eyes and interruptions often they face in the camps.
But ambitions go beyond improved skateboarding facilities, explains Barbara: “Souzy Tros hosts a skatepark and workshop atelier for the community, to be used as a place to gather, a comfort zone where to escape mentally and physically – the contemporary crisis. The project especially engages the youth from Eleonas Refugee Camp and beyond, in order to offer them a different consideration and perception of themselves by building up their confidence, their imagination and their skills.”
Everyone involved in the project is excited about how the project can evolve to become so much more than just a DIY skatepark, creating new connections for young refugees and possibilities far beyond what anyone can foresee right now.
“My hope is that people get reminded of what is actually possible to build in just a couple of days,” Robin explains. “Especially in a situation of economic crisis, like Athens is suffering right now, we cannot wait for other people to build what they think we need, we gotta do it ourselves. By building we realise and prove that we can shape and define our environments – our actions become visible. We cannot predict the future or the consequences of any action. But one thing is for certain: if nobody starts to put the first brick, nothing is gonna happen, nothing’s gonna change at all.”
