Bolivian women skateboard in traditional Aymara garb to showcase their culture [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

The traditional bowler hats, bright blouses and long, plaited “pollera” skirts of the young women contrast with the skateboards under their feet as they swoop back and forth on the skate ramp in Bolivia’s largest city.

ART-AND-CULTURE Updated: Oct 02, 2020 10:34 IST

Associated Press | Posted by Jahnavi Gupta
La Paz, Bolivia

The traditional bowler hats, bright blouses and long, plaited “pollera” skirts of the young women contrast with the skateboards under their feet as they swoop back and forth on the skate ramp in Bolivia’s largest city.

The girls of the collective “ImillaSkate,” a mixture of Aymara and English meaning girl and skateboarding, wear the Indigenous dress of their grandmothers to showcase their culture and promote the sport among women.

“I love this sport, I love my culture and I love being a woman, and that is what motivates me to continue,” said Ayde Choque, while tying the laces of her black Vans shoes and donning the face mask required amid the new coronavirus pandemic.

The group of five young people in La Paz joined a movement that was born in the central Bolivian region of Cochabamba last July. There, more than a dozen young women drew attention with a video posted on Facebook showing them skating through the streets of Cochabamba dressed in Indigenous garb.

Before, the skateboarding women in La Paz wore tight jeans, loose t-shirts and caps when they skated. Aymara women traditionally wear ankle-length layered skirts, embroidered blouses and shawls with a bowler hat perched atop their long black braids.

More:
https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/bolivian-women-skateboard-in-traditional-aymara-garb-to-showcase-their-culture/story-6c6cJvXjob61tS6wbTX2RN.html