Tag: skateboarding

Unity Skateboarding- the queer Skate Company building a league of rainbow riders

San Francisco Bay artist, Jeffrey Cheung who is also known as a master of zines, established Unity Skateboarding in February 2017. Southern California surfers changed the rules of skateboarding ultimately in the 1970s by moving the sport’s focus from its more technical competition routine components, to skating in empty pools. This move made by what is known as the Z-Boys, specifically Tony Alva, Jay Adams, and Stacey Peralta, created the framework for the modern skate mentality. This new mentality makes room for community and individualism in chorus and proudly creates a non-conformist platform. It is surprising that despite the fact that skating’s spirit has been rooted in inclusivity, no professional skateboarders were openly queer up until quite recently with the coming out of pro skateboarder, Brian Anderson.

Brian Anderson, named Thrasher’s Skater of the Year, came out publicly in September 2016 in a Vice Sports video, discussing skate culture’s history of homophobia with openness and compassion. The public release of the video met with an outburst of support. Unity Skateboards, the new California-based company, is therefore another important step in fostering inclusivity and ease the marginalization that is still, a reality for the queer community today.

Photograph by Vivian Fu

Cheung, who has lived and skated in the California area all his life, created the face of Unity by hand painting naked bodies of various sizes and skin tones in loving embraces on skate decks. These decks featuring boobs, butts, hugs, and words like “Unity: together as one”, display the all-embracing nature and proud queer ethos that Unity has at heart.

Stating that the idea to start his own queer skate company came into actualization when he started skating with other gay skaters for the first time, Cheung had initially hoped to start a skate crew. Cheung realized that they knew many queer skateboarders and decided to start hand-painting boards and the company grew from there. Brian Anderson’s officially coming out and female skate companies also inspired Cheung to mold Unity.

“I thought about myself when I was a teenager — that it would have been so life changing for me if there was a queer skate company with gay skaters. It would have been reaffirming of who I was during a very confusing and challenging time, and I feel that is the same for most queer teenagers. So that is what I hope Unity Skateboards will be for queer youth and queer people out there: an encouraging and positive force.’’ – Cheung stated in an interview with Vice earlier this year.

Photograph by Vivian Fu

The idea behind Unity was to promote queer pride in skateboarding, and to prioritize queer skaters. By making Unity an all-inclusive project, Cheung hopes that it will play a part in the breaking down of barriers.

“I am very happy to see that Brian Anderson has received a tremendous amount of support since coming out. I think that makes a big difference in the skate world and especially for queer teens coming out today. It’s funny that skateboarding — which is something that stemmed from going against the mainstream — can also be so much a part of that same heteronormative culture. Unfortunately, there are a lot of ignorant and close-minded people out there, but I have faith in the momentum that is happening and am appreciative of that. I know I can’t be the only one who is inspired to do something like this; there must be many other queer skate projects in the works right now, and I hope the future of skateboarding will be more accessible for women and queer people of color.” – Cheung tells Vice in an interview.

Cheung aspires to combat homophobia, sexism and racism with Unity while creating a space for queer youth to feel included and proud of who they are.

19 July 2017
Skateboarding meets fine art: The Skateroom collaborates with Robin Rhode

The Skateroom teamed up with South African artist Robin Rhode to create a limited edition range of skateboards adorned with five of his iconic artworks.

The premise behind the work at The Skateroom is to make art accessible. This is based on a social consciousness which is the heartbeat of what they do. The Skateroom collaborates with artists from different parts of the world to create limited edition collections of skateboard decks. By treating the skateboard deck as a canvas in the traditional art sense, they are created with the vision of being hung up on a wall and displayed as one would with a painting. However, people can skate on them as well. The combining of the skateboard with traditional understandings around the way in which art is treated and viewed highlights their exploration and interrogation of the conventions around skateboard artwork, allowing them to push the boundaries of how the skateboard is used and viewed. These collectable editions are sold in various art institutions as a means to fund and support social projects channeled through the NGO Skateistan. This organization, operating in Cambodia, South Africa and Afghanistan aims to empower vulnerable children through skateboarding and education.

The Skateroom decided to join forces with Berlin-based South African artist Robin Rhode. His work is influenced by his upbringing in Cape Town and looks at urban spaces and the people who occupy them. Five of his well-known outdoor wall artworks produced over the last few years were the inspiration for this monotone collection of skate decks. There are only 100 of each design available, with the first 15 being signed by Rhode. Rhode also created a skateboard deck exclusively for Skateistan. The Skateroom produced 300 to cover the organization’s annual need for skateboards. A few of these were signed by the artist and will be auctioned off in Johannesburg to raise money and create awareness around their Johannesburg skate school.

Go online to check out the collection

12 January 2017
Jas Boude- Taking Over The Streets

The short film Jas Boude (2014) has recently been blowing up online. Directed by Georgina Warner & Imraan Christian, the documentary details a day in the life of a group of young skaters from Valhalla Park on the Cape Flats. In just 13 minutes the film weaves slick skating footage of the 20SK8 collective with pointed commentary on social inequality.

Valhalla Park is plagued by gang violence and drug addiction, fuelled by the desperation of poverty and the legacy of Apartheid segregation. The severity of violence drives the narrative as the local skate park is simply too dangerous to use most of the time, meaning that the crew has to travel to the Cape Town CBD. The contrast is stark, with the film highlighting the separation between the comparatively wealthy urban core and the poor surrounding areas. Skating allows the crew to feel like they are ‘taking over the streets’ in a world where ‘the infrastructures were never designed for us’. But this sense of freedom is constantly interrupted by overzealous security guards and suspicious residents. These contradictions are evidenced in their visit to the Gardens skate park, situated under a freeway. While the city government presents this space as an act of charity, the skaters note that it was actually installed to keep out the homeless people who used to sleep there.

The crew returns to Valhalla Park, and to the harsh realities of life. As with many impoverished areas in South Africa, violence and despair is compounded by lack of basic services. In 2014, for example, protests broke out after residents had been without electricity for eight months. Against such a context it would have been easy for the filmmakers to make an overly didactic work. Fortunately, they take a more subtle approach, using character narration, smooth editing and a propulsive soundtrack to tell the story. The brutalities of existence are ever present- from newspaper headlines detailing murders to stray allusions in the dialogue. But what makes the film truly memorable is the focus on how its protagonists use skateboarding to attain a sense of freedom and purpose.

10 March 2016