BOXING GHOSTS: Seminar with the Institute for the Humanities in Africa, UCT

EXHIBITION OPENING

Kurt Campbell’s ‘Boxing Ghosts’ exhibition opens at 13h00 on Saturday, 23rd May 2015, at the D6M Homecoming Centre. The exhibition features augmented reality and live boxing demonstrations!

SEMINAR

The Institute for the Humanities in Africa (HUMA), UCT will facilitate a public conversation about ‘Boxing in the life of the city’ on the same day of the exhibition opening. Speakers include the artist, Kurt Campbell.

The Heavy-Bag Boxing Gym

The boxing gym installed in the gallery serves as a functional public artwork. It is a modern recreation of the famed “Western Cape Sporting Club” situated in the District Six area circa 1915.

The gym is accessible for the duration of the exhibition. At various times of the day, professional instructors will be present to demonstrate how to ‘throw a punch’ correctly.

This gym will travel to various locations around the city to encourage the practice of disciplining both the body and the mind, a crucial aspect of life for the boxers featured in this exhibition.

Those who make use of the boxing gym do so at their own risk.

Viewer engaging the interactive artworks

This exhibition deploys a variety of three-dimensional objects associated with the practice and training of boxing. These objects are brought into conversation with the District Six Museum Boxing Archive using interactive technology. This technology incorporates tablet computers and augmented reality software that make digital archival images visible to the viewer.

Boxer Sam Andrews; Donor – Barney de Vries

Advert for boxing match at the National Theatre, William Street, District Six, 1915. Donor: Maurice Hommel