#imillaskate

ImillaSkate !

Reconnecting with their ancestry while finding sisterhood through skateboarding, Imillaskate is an indigenous female skate collective based in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba – bonded through clothing as a symbol of cultural pride.

Finding their feet in the foothills of the Bolivian Andes, the young women join a rising number of cholitas, adopting the traditional pollera as a reclamation of indigenous heritage and the female strength carried through Aymara or Quechua traditions.

Travelling to Cochabamba, directors Rebecca Basaure and Mariano Carranza center the collective and their role in the community for short documentary ImillaSkate - The Cholita Skaters of Bolivia.

rebellionChallenging gender stereotypes through their contradictions, while making space for indigenous pride, the young women carve out a story of rebellion, reclamation, and radical joy against a landscape where racial prejudice and gender violence remain an ever-present concern. ...

"When Peruvian photographer Celia D’Luna went to Cochabamba, Bolivia, in March 2022, she wasn’t quite sure what to expect. She had been exchanging Instagram messages with an all-women skateboard collective, ImillaSkate, and wanted to photograph them for a series on Andean women in male-dominated spaces like wrestling and rock climbing."

Read the full piece here: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/meet-the-bolivian-skateboarders-bringing-andean-culture-to-the-halfpipe 

Celia D. Luna | ImillaSkate is a group of Bolivian women skaters united to promote this extreme women's sport | color photography

THEY ARE SKATEBOARDING REVOLUTIONARIES—IN TRADITIONAL DRESS

“These girls are a symbol for Bolivian people,” said photographer Luisa Dörr. “A resistance, an inspiration for girls of any other country.” Last year, Luisa spent two weeks documenting the young women of ImillaSkate, a group of Bolivian skateboarders who wear the traditional polleras, outfits of Indigenous Aymara and Quechua women. (Pictured above, boarder Deysi Tacuri López.)

Celia D. Luna | This is @lachurka3 from @imillaskate | color photography

Celia D. Luna | This is @tefy_morales_sb from @imillaskate