Highlights and takeaways from the womxn at Pushing Boarders
A few weeks ago, some of the movers and shakers of our global skate community met up to discuss important topics and share knowledge about our community at the academic skate conference, Pushing Boarders. It was a refreshing and inspiring week in the city of Malmö.
Yeah Girl contributor Norma Ibarra was invited to the event to speak on a panel about skate media and journalism. She also took the opportunity to shoot a series of portraits on film and in true Pushing Boarders style, she struck up some conversations to discover what the other womxn thought of the event.
Read their highlights and takeaways below and stay tuned for the full Pushing Boarders recap from Indigo Willing coming soon!
Pronoun: She/Her
From: Malmo, Sweden.
“Pushing Boarders was great. I got to skate with amazing people from all over the world and learnt that skateboarding is a tool for making the world a better place.”
Pronoun: She/Her
From: San Francisco, California
“Great strides have been made to make skateboarding more inclusive and accessible and it’s inspiring to hear the voices and be a part of those making these efforts. This was an incredible opportunity for everyone to step outside their bubble and meet skaters from all walks of life.”
Pronoun: She/Her
From: Australia
“Humans who connect via a love of skateboarding and dedication to social change are unstoppable. Academics and skateboarding have much unity in the way both value minuscule details in how things work, doing the hard work for progression, and stoke in breakthroughs. It was not surprising to meet lots of skaters who are scholars, artists, architects, social workers, activists and much more. A lot of society stereotypes us as a social problem, Pushing Boarders illustrated we may well be the leaders and thinkers in society to actually make really vital changes for good.”
Pronoun: She/Her
From: Peru
“I learned about different points about skateboarding, about different cultures at Pushing Boarders. No matter where you live and where are you from skateboarding is for everyone to share.”
Pronoun: She/Her
From: Helsinki, Finland
“Pushing Boarders was awesome! Lots of things must be accomplished in future but just having that feeling in discussion panels that the change is coming. Smash the patriarchy and hope that change will be more diverse, not just all about cis-ters. And one of my highlights was Readings at Spelgeln Cinema — that was soo refreshing.”
Pronoun: She/Her
From: Seattle, Washington.
“My highlight was having challenging conversations with skaters. Typically there’s a “shut up and skate” mentality. And at Pushing Boarders it was the opposite. People were open to dialogue for the most part. Things weren’t necessarily “solved” but it was a great step in the right direction. Yay!”
Pronoun: She/Her
From: France living in UK
“It’s hard to pin down a highlight from Pushing Boarders — the entire experience was incredibly enriching and a whole lot of fun. I learnt so much from every discussion I had or heard, and I love how those were just a start, how they’ve stimulated so many other discussions and thoughts since then throughout the world. If I had to choose one highlight however, it would be the inspiring people I met — the selfless organizers, the people who opened my eyes, the ones I disagreed with, the speakers who echoed my thoughts so perfectly, the skaters who made me dream, the ones who beat me at S.K.A.T.E, the old friends, the new ones.”
Pronoun: She/Her
From: London, UK
“Pushing Boarders was an incredibly diverse audience and panels all doing wonderful things related to skateboarding. Particularly loved the panels on skateboarding and academia, education and skate-able cities. I learnt a lot about the impact of skateboarding for those in need of something positive and for mental strength.”
Pronoun: She/Her
From: Australia living in Canada
“I really enjoyed connecting with everyone and talking about skateboarding. I learnt too much to mention and left feeling really inspired.”
Pronoun: She/Her
From: The Hague, Netherlands.
“For me Pushing Boarders was coming out of my shell and comfort zone and I learned a lot about various topics from different sides of skateboarding. Coming together and sharing thoughts and feelings was such an incredible experience. I think everyone in skateboarding should experience this to also be there for one and other more and to learn from each other. A lot of great insights of how together we can push skateboarding forward and make it more inclusive.
Pushing Boarders was overwhelming at times, in a good way. It started conversations which are necessary to understand each other better and these conversations kept running after every panel. Conversations about things that have been overlooked for too long.”
Pronoun: She/Her
From: Sweden
“Pushing Boarders was great in so many ways! Mostly when I go to conferences I’m usually the one who is talking, but this time I just sat back and listened to all these awesome people talking about skateboard as a common ground all from academics, research, organisations, architects , volunteers, culture carriers, media, industry and more. We all learned from one another’s point of view, even if we didn’t agree on everything there were good discussions. I think all panels touched and deeply talked about mental health, equality and what skateboarding could be or do for both individuals, groups and society. There were many feelings, insights and overall a big step forward for everyone. Pushing Boarders is a great stepping stone that brings people together to learn from another and push our wooden toy and ourselves in a good direction.”
Pronoun: She/Her
From: Bristol, UK
“While attending Pushing Boarders, it becomes so clear that skateboarding needs to encourage these conversations to continue it’s progression, thrive and create a safe community for everyone. The importance of discussion cannot be underestimated.
It was incredibly inspiring to meet such dedicated and motivated people in and out of the skateboarding community who are each doing their part to change this world for the better.”
Pronoun: They/Them
From: France
“I found Pushing Boarders was a one of kind experience! On one hand, it showed how an international community strives to better itself. Yet, on the other hand, it clearly drew out the limitations of our own minds.
I am thankful because it wouldn’t be without conferences like this one that we would be exposed to these limitations.”
Pronoun: She/Her
From: Bristol, UK
“The openness of attendees combined with the diverse range of expertise created one of the most captivating experiences.
Recognition for women creating DIY was particularly reassuring to us, and meeting some of the most forward thinking people involved in skatepark design was outstanding.”
Pronoun: She/Her
From: Bangalore, India
“I learnt yet again that anything is possible! Who would have ever imagined a skate conference would happen at a skate park inside a skate school and that I and other skaters from different parts of the world would meet in Malmö and that we’d discuss about things that enrich the human experience. Like skateboarding and all the different life experiences we’ve had within it. Same, same but different for everyone.
Building with the pig barrier crew, skating in the skate friendly city of Malmö, bicycling around, my epic birthday fest, spending cosy times with beautiful people are definitely the highlights!”
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