Welcome to CIVIC, a Leeds Skateboarding Resource

Equal parts publication, library and guidebook, CIVIC has been created to showcase Leeds skateboarding, provide a visual archive of its history and assist in bridging formal relationships with spaces and institutions to nurture an understanding of skateboarding’s local cultural value.

The website features an interactive spot map and spot guides aiming to make street skateboarding in Leeds more accessible, and a comprehensive video archive of skateboarding media produced by the Leeds skateboarding community, spanning from the late 1990s to today.

The name, “CIVIC” is derived from a bygone nickname for what is now known as Millennium Square but also proposes the idea that skateboarders can have a greater role in discussions of public space and their place within it.

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CIVIC recommends:

Latest Feature:

Drift Tricks and Skatepark Allyship by Dani Abulhawa
9/2/24 - 21/4/24

Leeds Art Gallery
The Headrow
Leeds, LS1 3AA

museumsandgalleries.leeds.gov.uk

Traditional skateboarding spaces can often feel exclusive and intimidating to those outside the usual demographic. Both Skatepark Allyship and Drift Tricks (2023) aim to dismantle these barriers, asserting the power of inclusive play and the positive ripple effects it can have on community well-being and cohesion. Accompanying this installation is a programme of workshops running from February - April, devised by the artist to activate these sculptures through skateboarding, movement, and play.

Civic Skateboarding was about forming better relationships between skateboarders and Leeds’ civic and cultural institutions in order to better protect one another. It paid particular attention to the growing number of female and minority gender skateboarders who are disproportionally affected by the lack of safety in public spaces and was co-created, co-curated, and co-skated by many members of the Leeds skateboard community. Read here.