Boxing Lisboa: ARQUIVO / ARCHIVE
The first book of photographic and artistic documentation of Boxing in Portugal.
This singular and groundbreaking work documents the daily side of the sport in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area between 2015 and 2017, through an intimate journey through the events, clubs, and the communities that support it.
Softcover, 22 x 28.5cm, 154 pages, Portuguese and English.
Lisbon, 2022.
Lisbon’s amateur Boxing scene is as unseen as it is intense and familiar. In the absence of a solid professional circuit, Portuguese Boxing is dominated by a relatively small number of clubs and gyms that meet regularly, in official or friendly bouts, under the scope of national and/or regional Boxing entities. Portuguese Boxing has recently faced the competition of other combat sports, like Kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts, becoming sort of a niche practice in today’s sports landscape.
In Lisbon, Boxing events are often held in the outskirts of the city, with few to none public support, the geography of those events mimicking the place attributed to the sport in the hierarchy of cultural practices. Advertising is conducted through word of mouth and social media, and mainstream outlets are almost invariably absent. But maybe because they have become increasingly marginal, Lisbon’s Boxing bouts are deep and intimate experiences: the distinction between public and private spaces is fluid, the audience bends the rules and communication flows all around. Family and friends are present, a victory in the ring acquires a personal and social significance that lives beyond the moment.
TITLE | Boxing Lisboa: Arquivo / Archive
Photography | Gustavo Lopes Pereira
Text | Yuri Lopes Pereira
Year | Lisboa, 2022
ISBN | 978-989-53612-0-5
Print Run | 250
About the artistGUSTAVO LOPES PEREIRA
Born in Maputo, Mozambique (1977). Lives in Lisbon and works in Portuguese Speaking Countries, using photography and film to address themes of social transformation, memory and identity.