Skateboarding in Seoul: A Sensory Ethnography

Skateboarding is booming. With its inclusion in the 2021 Summer Olympics, skateboarding has properly made its way into the mainstream – reaching new audiences and offering significant opportunities for non-traditional skateboarders in non-Western contexts.

As skaters increasingly engage with and respond to socio-political surges across the globe, skateboarding begins to refract into a multiplicity of situated practices. This includes a new wave of collectives and communities who re-imagine what cities could sound, feel, and be like. Combining filmmaking with ethnographic writing, Sander Hölsgens traces the lived experience of a small group of skaters in South Korea. As a skater among skaters, he unravels the site-specific nuances and relational meanings of skateboarding in Seoul – working towards an intimate portrait of a growing community.

Read more about Sander Hölsgens' new book: Skateboarding in Seou;.