London's skateboarders will be able to take centre stage in a new exhibition after the Design Museum set up a skate ramp in the heart of its new show dedicated to the sport.
Its show on skateboard design includes around 100 boards as well as memorabilia alongside the 3.5ft mini ramp which ticket holders can ride on while others watch.
The bespoke ramp, which has a 6.5ft extension, has been designed for the museum in Kensington by exhibition curator Jonathan Olivares with skatepark design firm Betongpark.
Exhibition ticket holders who have prior experience of skateboarding and are able to “drop in” or ride the ramp from the top rather than the bottom, can book a free slot to skate on the ramp as part of their visit.
The exhibition also includes films of skateboarders performing tricks and will trace its history back to the use of homemade skateboards in the 1950s to its admission to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Museum director Tim Marlow said: “We are really pleased to be unveiling the newest skateable ramp in London, and what we think might be the first mini-ramp the public can skate on inside any major UK museum.
"This is a really exciting and important part of our Skateboard show as it speaks to the ways in which skaters have long repurposed aspects of the built environment, and poetically reinterpreted the function they were designed for.
“And with the global skate community today reaching 85 million, and with the sport’s inclusion in Paris 2024 likely to push that number even higher, now is the perfect time to be hosting this exhibition at the world’s leading museum for contemporary design. This is a story of design, performance and communities evolving together.”
