‘It’s iconic worldwide – it’s particular to skateboard there’: the South Bank skatepark turns 50 | Southbank Centre

Shane O’Brien first skated at London’s Southbank Centre in the summertime of 1975, on the age of 10. But earlier than he may name himself a “Southbanker”, a daily of the well-known spot, he needed to face a sure ritual. In 1983 he was launched into the Thames by senior skaters and will lastly contemplate himself one of many crew. Now in his 60s, O’Brien calls the South Bank his second house.

The skate spot on the Southbank Centre was created accidentally. When the centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall was constructed within the Nineteen Sixties, the architects left an area, or undercroft, beneath the constructing open to the general public. The house featured concrete ledges and ramps, options that have been utilised by native skate boarders within the mid-Seventies – the spot has been skated ever since. If you’re within the space on the south-east facet of the Thames in central London, it’s possible you’ll not see the skaters straight away. You will, nonetheless, at all times hear them.

Neil Ellis, skater and spokesperson for Skateboard GB, says that skate spots typically develop organically on this manner. “Most people would see a set of stairs or a bench, but skateboarders see these places differently; they are things we can grind, slide or jump down.” As a child, Ellis would see pictures of the house in skateboarding magazines. Eventually, he travelled to go to for the primary time. “It was such a buzz to skate somewhere I had seen my idols performing tricks.”

To mark 50 years of the town’s most well-known skatepark, the Southbank Centre is placing on an exhibition known as Skate 50. Developed with members of the native skateboarding group, it would characteristic archival footage and images in addition to movies. The exhibition originated from a collection of workshops led by film-maker Winstan Whitter, who introduced collectively completely different generations to establish how the house has been used over time and to pinpoint key moments in its historical past. Featured artists embrace film-makers Dan Magee and Jack Brooks, Palace Skateboards founder Lev Tanju, animator Sofia Negriand and sound artist Beatrice Dillon.

Cedar Lewisohn, curator of web site design on the Southbank Centre, says that this present was his first precedence when he acquired the job. With earlier expertise on the London Museum, Tate Britain and Tate Modern, Lewisohn wished to mix his talent for curation together with his love of skateboarding. He refers to his childhood visits to the house as “pilgrimages”. “Skating opened up a whole world of visuals, clothing and music for me when I was younger, and the South Bank was at the heart of that,” he says. “Working on this project has reminded me about all the different creative possibilities of skating.”

Skateboarding as we perceive it at the moment was born within the mid-Twentieth century in California. Sick of the waves dictating after they may get out on the water, surfers wished an alternate. “Sidewalk surfing” grew to become skateboarding, and shortly started to dominate tradition within the state. The first skate journal, The Quarterly Skateboarder, was born in 1964, main the best way for Thrasher, Big Brother and extra. Skate vogue, corresponding to Dickies workwear, Vans footwear and T-shirts over long-sleeved tops, labored its manner into the mainstream. Even skate movies, typically shoddily filmed on handheld camcorders, grew to become an artwork kind. The director Spike Jonze started his profession capturing road skate movies. Jonze was additionally a driving pressure behind the prank franchise Jackass, which emerged from skateboard journal tradition to spawn successful TV present and a number of other films.

Skateboarding quickly made its manner internationally. The first skateboards have been dropped at this nation from the US within the Nineteen Sixties, however, not like in California, the rain largely dictates once we can skate. Many contemplate the Southbank Centre to be the birthplace of British skateboarding. People speak concerning the house in virtually non secular phrases. Lewisohn says that the brutalist structure of the Southbank Centre is a draw, however that there’s one thing “spiritual” concerning the undercroft, partly as a result of it’s subsequent to the Thames. “It’s hard to pinpoint why a space that was designed with no real purpose is such a powerful creative hub,” he says. “But it is.”

But the undercroft hasn’t survived for 5 many years accidentally. As with many skate areas, its lengthy life is the results of relentless campaigning by skaters, who’re more and more being pushed out of public life. In 2013, the nonprofit organisation Long Live Southbank was launched in response to the proposed redevelopment of the location. The campaigners fought exhausting – and received. But the legitimisation of skateboarding is an ongoing battle, and one that’s typically misplaced, regardless of how passionate its fighters. “Skate spots are incredibly important to skateboarders. They are places we meet, create communities and make friends,” says Ellis.

Many of the town’s skateparks, together with well-known ones such Palace’s Mwadlands web site in Peckham, and House of Vans in Waterloo, each in south-east London, have closed down over time. However, because of the efforts of skate boarders, there’s nonetheless a booming scene. Skateboard GB just lately carried out the primary ever audit of skateable spaces within the UK to evaluate what makes park and uncover underrepresented areas. The research discovered that the nation has virtually 2,000 of those areas, however lots of them are underneath menace.

Skateboarding is sweet for you. It not solely will get you exterior studying a brand new talent, nevertheless it additionally places you in group with others. “I am fortunate to have an expansive skate family all over the world,” says O’Brien. “I have known and loved my adopted skate brothers and sisters for five decades now.” That type of group is changing into accessible to extra individuals on a regular basis. In current years, there’s been a surge of curiosity within the sport, partly due to its addition to the Olympics in 2020. “Skateboarding is growing in popularity, particularly with youngsters who are turned off by competitive sports,” says Ellis. “It provides people with the opportunity to be creative.” There has been an enormous effort to make it simpler for beforehand ignored teams to get into the game: ladies, older individuals, newcomers, individuals of color, LGBTQ+ individuals; collectives made up of underrepresented teams typically meet at skateparks to make it much less intimidating, whereas some skateparks will placed on ladies’ nights or 40+ nights.

One such group is London Skate Mums, which began as a WhatsApp group for ladies to organise meet-ups. Today, they supply low-cost entry to skateboarding for mums of all skills. Their month-to-month out of doors classes give attention to getting comfy in locations such because the South Bank. “South Bank is iconic worldwide, so it feels special to skate there, but it can also feel daunting,” says member Jardena. When they first confirmed up, the group felt self-conscious. That was, says one other member, Aiwa, till a man waved at them and stated: “Mums are always welcome here!” Jardena says: “Representation matters, and if you don’t see people like you doing it then you don’t realise this sport has room for you, too.”

Lewisohn hopes that guests to Skate 50 might be immersed within the richness of skate tradition whereas studying about how necessary communities such because the South Bank one are. “Skaters set an example of alternative ways to interact with urban space, and that mindset is linked to a way of thinking that is always questioning systems. With Skate 50, we have really tried to let the skaters tell their own story,” he says. The exhibition exhibits that there’s a shift in notion, no less than in terms of the South Bank. What was as soon as an overpoliced and politicised house is now immortalised in artwork. It’s part of the town’s historical past, and no matter challenges are on the horizon for skateboarding, it’s clear that it’s by no means going wherever with out a battle.

Skate 50 is on the Queen Elizabeth Hall undercroft, London, 30 April to 21 June.