SEMBLANCE

Build for Bokma
Semblance is an art installation and pop-up skate park built in commemoration of Toronto skater Justin Bokma. The sculptures utilize forms and materials that reference iconic skateboarding destinations within Toronto, New York, Barcelona, and other major urban centres. Together the sculptures create a “moveable destination”, a temporary gathering place for local and international skate communities alike.

Semblance is the heart of CITE, The Bentway’s summer celebration of skateboarding culture. For six weeks CITE transforms The Bentway into a destination to hone skateboarding skills while participating in accompanying activist, educational, and arts and cultural practices that situate the act of skateboarding within the broader context of urban place-making. CITE features interdisciplinary programming including workshops, performances, a marketplace, speaker series, and more.

CITE speaks to the simultaneous accessibility and inaccessibility of urban spaces, to the reclamation of the city by marginalized groups and counter-cultures, and to the potential for functional and inclusive city-building through creative collaboration.

Opening June 30

Build for Bokma is a Toronto-based non-profit organization directed by Wes Loates, Josh Singal, and Immony Men. The group’s mandate is to produce multifunctional skateable structures within public space, their long-term goal is to create a memorial DIY skate park that commemorates the life of pro skateboarder Justin Bokma. BFB aims to eliminate the gap between skateboarders and the communities they are a part of, by pursuing innovative and creative ways of integrating skateboarding into the urban landscape of the city.

Image: James Morley