Pushing Boarders

Let’s talk business: style + tricks ≠ money. There’s more to the industry than skating itself. This panel explores the power of the industry to shape skateboarding, from the sacred ‘core’ to corporate ‘invasion’, Olympic dreams, and much more. Panel: Nick Sharrat (The Palomino), Paul Shier (Adidas Skateboarding / Isle Skateboards), Kim Woozy (Mahfia TV), Josh Friedberg (USA Skateboarding), Claire Alleaume (Journalist) Chair: Kyle Beachy (Vent City)

Nostalgic or progressive, VX or IG, or everything at once? This panel examines the role of technology and all things social, to create new skate gods and shine a light on unsung skaters across the globe. Panelists: Imke Leerink (Girls Shred), Briana King (Display Only), Hans Smits (World Of Skateboarding), Ted Schmitz (Vent City) Chair: Ted Barrow

Whilst skaters all over the world fight to save their favourite spots from destruction, some cities are actively integrating skateboarding into public space. In this panel, pro skaters, architects and policy planners discuss the pros and cons of what happens when we try to make our cities more sustainably ‘skate-friendly’. Panel: Leo Valls, Kristin Ebeling, Dr. Karin Book (University of Malmö), Fredrik Angner (White Arkitekter) Chairs: Prof. Ocean Howell & Gustav Eden (Skate Malmö)

How do we break the male gaze, and, in the wake of some of the most interesting evolutions in skating for womxn, ensure equal opportunities for everyone? Ultimately, how do we create and support the revolution? Panel: Candy Jacobs, Kristin Ebeling (Skate Like A Girl), Mimi Knoop (Women’s Skate Alliance), Amber Edmondson (Women Skate the World), Kava Garcia Vasquez (Meninanda) Chair: Lucy Adams (Pro Skater / Skateboard England)

Drawing from the cases of two iconic skate spots - Love Park in Philadelphia and Southbank in London - this panel explores why certain spaces generate a heightened sense of importance amongst skaters and how this cultural significance can be translated into preservation. Panel: Stuart Maclure (Long Live Southbank), Brian Panebianco (Sabotage Crew), Dr. Pollyana Ruiz (University of Sussex), Dr. Paul O’ Connor (University of Hong Kong) Chairs: Gustav Eden (Skate Malmö) & Betsy Gordon (Smithsonian Institution)

In a culture dominated by the masculine and the straight, industry insiders discuss their diverse experiences with identity within skateboarding and uncover the true prejudices at play. How can we all be better allies? Panel: Lacey Baker, Yann Horowitz, Mark Nickels, Briana King (Display Only) Chairs: Sam McGuire & Tobias Coughlin-Bogue (SKATEISM)

As established print outlets fall and internet-based publications rise, space opens up for new voices to define what skateboarding is. How can journalists reflect the diversity of skateboarding today? Panel: Lee Smith (Mission Statement), Christian Kerr (Jenkem), Norma Ibarra (Skate Witches / U Can Skate), Jin Yob Kim (The Quiet Leaf), Arthur Derrien (Free Skate Mag) Chairs: Anthony Pappalardo (Author & Journalist) & Hannah Bailey (Photographer & Journalist)

For the past ten years skateboarders have watched in wonder as the stoke has been spread from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. A whole new skate charity ‘sector’ has emerged, but what does this mean for local populations? In this panel, we hear from local skaters about their experiences working with International NGOs, and find out how skate scenes can be developed in a sustainable way with the communities’ needs at heart. Panel: Ayanda Mnyandu (Skateistan, South Africa), Aram Sabbah (SkatePal, Palestine), Atita Verghese (Girl Skate India), Leyla Garboza (Concrete Jungle Foundation, Peru) Chairs: Will Ascott & Ruby Mateja (Free Movement Skateboarding) This panel discussion was sponsored by The Skateroom

In this panel, a new generation of skate scholars discuss how a skater-led, inclusive, and critical approach to research can improve skateboarding and create better relationships between academia, skate charities and the skate industry. Panel: Dr. Adelina Ong (Independent Researcher), Luke Cianciotto (University of Chicago), Dr. Indigo Willing (Griffith University), Sophie Friedel (University of Innsbruck), Dr. Dani Abulhawa (Sheffield Hallam) Chairs: Dr. Sander Holsgens (Re-verb Skateboarding) & Stuart Maclure (Long Live Southbank)

From Skate After School to skateboarding in school, this panel of professionals and practitioners explore the potential of skateboarding as an immersive and transferable learning tool. Balancing the freedom of self-taught switch flips with the rise in formal classes, how do we both learn skateboarding and learn from skateboarding? Panel: John Dahlquist (Bryggeriet), Ryan Lay (Skate After School), Rhianon Bader (Skateistan / Goodpush), Dr. Esther Sayers (Goldsmiths University) & Dr. Jessica Forsyth (Harold Hunter Foundation) Chair: Rick McCrank

Pushing Boarders Malmö kicked off with a topic that ran through all of the panels at this year’s event – mental health in skateboarding. Opening the discussion were Scottish and Swedish legends, John Rattray and Madeleine Uggla who spoke about their own experiences and outlined possible ways to keep this conversation going throughout and after the event.

Skaters and the city have historically been at loggerheads over the defensive architecture and restrictions placed on public spaces, but things are changing. Skateboarders worldwide are beginning to win hard fought battles to protect iconic spots and construct the inclusive cities they desire. The question is: what do skaters want and need from the built environment? Panel: Gustav Svanborg-Eden [Skate Malmo], Chris Lawton [Skate Nottingham], Alexis Sablone [Pro Skater], Daphne Greca [Brixton's Baddest Skateshop], David Knight [DK-CM Architects] Chair: Ocean Howell, Stuart Maclure [Long Live Southbank]

From Peru to Palestine, Afghanistan to Athens, skate charities are harnessing the power of skateboarding to empower marginalised communities in new and innovative ways. Ten years ago, the concept of a ‘skate charity’ didn’t even exist. Today, this skater-led movement is thriving, but what’s next? Panel: Oliver Percovich [Skateistan], Tobias Egelkamp [Skate Aid], Arne Hilerns [Make Life Skate Life], Charlie Davis [SkatePal] Chair: Will Ascott & Ruby Mateja [Free Movement Skateboarding]

As skateboarders, architecture shapes our behaviour through urbanism and design. With the rising visibility of female skaters worldwide, an international group of both former and current professionals, alongside recreational skaters explore how skateboarding not only influences our agency over public spaces, but as women, how this unique lens can become a lifelong vehicle of empowerment. Panel: Elissa Steamer, Louisa Menke, Jaime Reyes, Alexis Sablone, Lucy Adams, Maria Falbo Chair: Jilleen Liao

There has been a rise in voices advocating for the recognition and support of a broad gendered landscape in skateboarding in contrast to the white, hetero-masculine standard that has dominated it for decades. This panel considers how a new wave of grassroots organisations, led by skaters, are opening up issues of social and identity politics and starting to run things differently. Panel: Anthony Pappalardo [Author & Journalist], Marie Dabbadie [Xem Skaters zine], Dani Gallagher & Kirsty Tonner [Girl Skate UK], Oisin Tammas & Moch Simos [Skateism] Chair: Dr. Dani Abulhawa [Sheffield Hallam University]

Prof. Neftalie Williams and Karl Watson take a look at the historical contribution of people of colour within skateboarding and discuss their own experiences, reflecting on the notion of a shared identity both as a skateboarder and as a person of colour, and the role of skateboarding as a tool for cultural diplomacy. Panel: Neftalie Williams in Conversation with Karl Watson

Skate videos and photos are an integral part of skateboarding, but how do you capture the vibe of a session or the screech of a powerslide on an SF hill-bomb in writing? This panel explores the myriad of forms and styles that aim to express how skateboarding affects us and how skateboarders push against misrepresentation. How do you write lines about finding lines? Panel: Paul O’Connor, Asa Backstrom, Gregory Snyder, Sander Hölsgens, Kyle Beachy, Dwayne Dixon, Tara Jepsen Chair: Ted Barrow

Skateboarding might not seem like something you can study at university or write about in scholarly journals, but these three panelists have been doing just that for the last 30 years. This panel looks at the legacy and impact of their work from 1988 to 2018 and how skateboarding has changed and stayed the same from Ban This to Atlantic Drift. Panel: Iain Borden, Becky Beal, Ocean Howell Chair: Thom Callan-Riley, Stuart Maclure