Southbank Skate Culture Gets Its Own Undercroft Exhibition After 50 Years

Southbank skate culture gets its own undercroft exhibition after 50 years

For the past fifty years, skaters have been performing tricks at the Southbank, and now, there’s an exhibition telling the history of skating in the undercroft. Skateboarding at the Southbank evolved organically, filling an empty void left when the arts complex was constructed. A community grew up, and although not always welcomed by the arty sorts, they’ve now secured their long-term future at the Southbank’s undercroft. The exhibition, around …

“Like skating an amphitheatre”: 50 years of the South Bank skatepark,…

Skate 50 — A new exhibition celebrates half a century of British skateboarding’s spiritual centre. Noah Petersons traces the Undercroft’s history and enduring presence as one of the world’s most iconic spots. Midday at the Undercroft and the tourists barely exist. They gather along the edge of the railing, phones in hand, watching a tight-knit group of skaters work a concrete ledge beneath the Queen Elizabeth Hall. But the skaters take no notice…