No Comply: Skate, Culture and Community

Surprisingly fascinating exhibition at Somerset House looking at the culture of skateboarding.

I went to this show on the grounds I’ll go to anything that is free but expected to get little from it, not being a skateboarder, or knowing anyone who is, but it was really interesting from a sociological point of view. The show looked at how skateboarding had changed the urban environment with the building of skateparks and occupation of urban space by boarders. Evidently the skating space in the lower areas of the South Bank is now listed and was described in the blurb as “a sacred space”. It is the longest continually skated space in the world.

I loved the way skating had developed as a subculture albeit one which has passed me by, but I did feel the hand of corporate bodies entering the space such as a Louis Vuitton skate shoe. I wonder what effect Sky Brown's Bronze medal in Tokyo will have on this? 

Closes 19 September 2021

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