Skateboarding Special II: stories of independence
- Text by Shelley Jones
In Volume II of our Skateboarding Special – a part editorial magazine part lookbook in collaboration between Levi’s® Skateboarding and Huck magazine – we explore the standalone spirit embodied by most in skateboarding’s savage solar system; from the European cast adrift in California to the individuals pioneering a new scene in a totalitarian state.
Skateboarding attracts outlaws – the act itself disrupts the physical and cultural landscape – but the skateboarding community has laws unto itself. Together, these artists and photographers and writers and explorers, are more independent than alone; from the group of volunteers building skateparks to unite the kids of a war-torn country, to the girl who found herself mothering a skate empire after she got bored of her ballet lessons.
Skateboarding is kind of like prison: You arrive wayward, you eat shit, you get back up again and you leave reformed. What you choose to do with that experience, like any independent mind knows, is totally up to you.
Featuring: Third-culture kid Marius Syvanen, Zen master Pat Moran, Antisocial head honcho Michelle Pezel, Palestine skateboarding charity SkatePAL, Tommy Zhao and the Shanghai skate scene, K-Dub’s community skatepark in Oakland, and more.
You can find The Skateboarding Special at select skate stores around the world and a selection of stories and videos inspired by the issue will be published at huckmag.com over the next month.
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The Ukrainian skatepark sanctuary on the frontlines of war
Krytka — In Okhtyrka, just 50km from the border with Russia, a crew of young skaters, musicians and friends gutted out an abandoned factory, filling it with ramps and music equipment to create a shelter of community and resilience.
Written by: Isaac Muk
At Belgium’s Horst, electronic music, skate and community collide
More than a festival — With art exhibitions, youth projects and a brand new skatepark, the Vilvoorde-Brussels weekender is demonstrating how music events can have an impact all year round.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Volcom teams up with Bob Mollema for the latest in its Featured Artist Series
True to This — The boardsports lifestyle brand will host an art show in Biarritz to celebrate the Dutch illustrators’ second capsule collection.
Written by: Huck
In Baghdad, skater girls are reshaping Iraqi womanhood
Baghdad is rad — As the city’s first skatepark opens, the new space is providing a blank canvas for its board culture. Dalia Dawood speaks to the people looking to make its ramps and rails a safe haven for women and girls.
Written by: Dalia Dawood
In England’s rural north, skateboarding is femme
Zine scene — A new project from visual artist Juliet Klottrup, ‘Skate Like a Lass’, spotlights the FLINTA+ collectives who are redefining what it means to be a skater.
Written by: Zahra Onsori
From his skating past to sculpting present, Arran Gregory revels in the organic
Sensing Earth Space — Having risen to prominence as an affiliate of Wayward Gallery and Slam City Skates, the shredder turned artist creates unique, temporal pieces out of earthly materials. Dorrell Merritt caught up with him to find out more about his creative process.
Written by: Dorrell Merritt
