Phwoar! What a weekend. I can hold my hand to my heart and say that Pushing Boarders was one of the most interesting things to happen to skating since the California drought. Not only did we fill many rooms with free thinking, in depth discussion and new ideas, but London was taken by storm; overflowing with skateboarders from all round the world. “Talking. Skateboarding.” in equal measure – that’s the Pushing Boarders philosophy.
When we started SKATEISM, it came from a place inside us – that feeling that skateboarding was founded on the love of a toy, and the love, inclusivity and creativity that toys encourage. Now, at times this has gotten lost in skateboarding. Perhaps drowned behind product, behind social media, behind clips. But it’s nothing a natter and a few beers can’t fix. Right? Right. We’ve just got to find time to reconnect.
So sure, we’re nursing the hangover, but we couldn’t wait to write up this post. The first edition of Pushing Boarders – the skateboarding conference that opened up the world of academia, charity and identity politics to skateboard culture – took off at House of Vans and UCL’s Bartlett School of Architecture last weekend without so much as a hiccup.
“Pushing Boarders was an experiment and we didn’t know if anyone would show up for it, but we are overwhelmed and invigorated by the turnout and the dedication of the audience who sat inside on a sunny weekend in London to talk about these important issues in skateboarding when they could have been out skating — we think this shows that people do really care about the topics that were discussed across all the panels. We are so excited for what can happen next with all of the energy that everyone brought to this event and what it means for the social impact of skateboarding going forward.” – Thomas Callan, Re-verb Skateboarding.
With Reverb Skateboarding, SkatePal and Long Live Southbank joining forces, Pushing Boarders saw some of the strongest and most dedicated forces in UK skateboarding gather to discuss – simple as that. And it didn’t stop there! Internationals flew in to join the dialogue, battling ideas and experience, comparing and contrasting just how different skateboarding is around the world. We often live by the expression “we’re all just skaters”, but how much is that an excuse for ignoring that the same issues that plague modern culture also bleed into our communities? We are diverse, we are unique – but we are not divided.
With panels on race, trans and genderqueer movements, female uprising, charities and architecture – plus their respective relationships to skateboarding – Pushing Boarders did what nothing has done before it: it shone the spotlight into the corners of skateboarding. And for that we say “thank you” to everybody who spoke, exhibited and attended – this is real movement. Keep pushing…
