Just skate – “Skaters Atlas”

At the end of June, I wrote “Your words” – recent happenings with some of the Shanghai skate scene and, from these meetings, some developing creative interludes. Shanghai skater/creative/friend Jonathon Lim whom I spoke about last time, has again posted something pretty interesting on his tumblr…something definitely worth watching if your world is skate. Called ‘Skaters Atlas’, it is an online video magazine dedicated to coverage of the best local skate scenes from all over the world. It focuses on the people who are making a difference in their scene and the positive changes that come from it…from interviews with local and international pros, to full videos, with a focus on artists and photographers, and even a skaters’ cookbook section that bought a smile to my face. I’d love to know what skaters eat and their other subcultures. As you know I’m all for dreaming big, positive creative transcultural collaboration, where this seems like another strong grassroots project of this kind in the making. Whilst intensely engaging with the London 2012 Olympics over the past couple of weeks (which I didn’t think I’d have the opportunity as I was supposed to be in Shanghai still), where BMX is now included as an event for the first time, my friends and I have been discussing how great it would be to see skateboarding, inline and other X Games events (though inline isn’t part of the X Games yet is it?) up there with the others…raising it’s profile…after all snowboarding is part of the Olympic Winter Games right? At the same time, I’m not sure whether it should join the mainstream, as I think it would take away some of the soul of skating, what it is and stands for…I wish my world was still skate sometimes as it brings such a specific feeling and contended smiles when I think about that as part of my life. The sound, the smell of the parks, the injuries, the sense of community…this moment, I’m lost in my thoughts. For now, I’ll keep in with ‘Skaters Atlas’ and see what they have to offer over the coming months as it launches. Show me what you’ve got.