Flying high with the Maldives skater girls

The grassroots skateboard collective Volans Maldives empowers local women and girls by celebrating their athleticism and creativity

Watching her daughter and friends navigate the curves and undulations of their local skate park on the island of Hulhumalé in 2024, surfer and skateboarder Saazu Saeed saw the seeds of a movement to empower local women and girls. 

Teaming up with fellow skater and artist Aishath Naj, she co-founded Volans Maldives, a grassroots organisation named after the astronomical constellation Piscis Volans (Flying Fish), to celebrate the gravity-defying tricks performed by the girls.

In September 2024, the British-Maldivian photographer Sophia Nasif spent Gaumee Dhuvas, a national day marking the end of Portuguese colonialism, with the Volans skaters. These images capture them fearlessly carving up the concrete and claiming the space — and the sport — as their own.