EVERYONE ON BOARDS: THEN AND NOW
EVERYONE on BOARDS—a community organisation that seeks to inspire, engage, and empower young people through skateboarding—has mounted an exhibition which captures the past and present of Waltham Forest’s skate scene. Through a photographic and artistic exploration of the local history and legacy of the skateparks nearby Chase Lane, Lloyd Park, Cann Hall, and other spots around Waltham Forest, the exhibition—aptly titled Then & Now—highlights how the area has been home to skateboarders and artists from diverse backgrounds, and how it has essentially encouraged integration and collaboration. “Skateboarding has this ability to link people together,” Agnieszka 'Aga' Wood, EVERYONE on BOARDS’ founder, said.
“Set has a timeline, the exhibition features photographs of the current scene but also slightly smaller images scanned from zines and pictures people had in their archive, which adds a playful element of DIY-ness,” graphic designer and one of the contributors to Then & Now Tijl Schneider said. Decks, furniture designs, and filmed clips are also part of the mix. And, accompanying the exhibition is a community-led publication—a book that comprises portraits by legendary skate photographer Wig Worland who himself has been involved in the skate scene from the 80s through to the present generation.
“Throughout my life in photography I’ve been lucky enough to work with the extended, ever changing skateboard community in the UK and throughout the world,” Wig said. “At its best, skateboarding brings people together and meeting the collection of incredible characters that make up the Lloyd Park Skate community in 2022 is exactly the type of project that illustrates this perfectly.”
Then & Now will run from Oct. 20 through Oct. 30 at Winns Gallery, London /
