Skate Girls of Kabul Exhibition Review at The Saatchi Gallery

The 15th of April was the anticipated launch of Jessica Fulford-Dobson’s ‘Girls of Kabul’ photography collection at the Saatchi Gallery in Sloane Square. The unique Skateistan project aims to empower young girls in Afghanistan (and other countries such as Cambodia and South Africa) who are not allowed to ride bicycles, but are allowed to skate.

This project founded in 2007 continues to grow from strength to strength, encouraging young girls to embrace skating with educational outcomes. Of course there is more to Skateistan than just skateboarding! Skateistan’s development aid programs work with growing numbers of youth through skateboarding, and provide them with new opportunities in cross-cultural interaction, education, and personal empowerment programs.

Skateistan has expanded its skateboard-based development activities to include full-time programming for Cambodian youth in Phnom Penh, a state-of-the-art learning/skateboarding centre in Mazar-e-Sharif, Northern Afghanistan, and a project for youth in Johannesburg, South Africa. Girls between the ages of 15-18 have the opportunity to feel free, and to have the same opportunities that any other young person would have elsewhere.

The exhibit really captured the freedom and empowerment achieved through skateboarding, however done in typical Saatchi style- minimal. The emphasis was solely on the photos and Jessica Fulford-Dobson, captured this in both her portrait and candid shots of the girls. The exhibit even featured the portrait that won her 2nd prize in the 2014 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize with Skate Girl in 2014. Her passion for this project showed in her images and demonstrated how it effects the youth of Kabul. Using skateboarding as a hook to get youth back into education, and in a time where knowledge is power, education has never been so important.

Sophie Dyer

The exhibition will be available to the public from the 15^thApril until the 28th April, 2^nd floor, Saatchi Gallery. For more information about the exhibition visit the wesbite and for more information about the project visit the Skateistan website.