http://www.kurt-campbell.com
+27 (0)21 650 7172
kurt.campbell@uct.ac.za
Dr Kurt Campbell is a past Harvard University fellow and visiting scholar at the University of Minnesota and the American University in Cairo. He has developed productive interdisciplinary dialogues as an artist and writer extending his practice into fields as broad as pugilism, textuality and historiography. South Africa’s recent political past and the accompanying legacies often feature in his writing and artwork. Crucially, this focus is not to re-inscribe the ideas of ‘race’ or ‘apartheid’, but rather to assist with a final critique of these boundaries and thus contribute to a potentially richer self-concept for individuals as they move in the intellectual world.
Notable writing projects appear in the following international peer-reviewed journals: "European Journal of English Studies" https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13825577.2013.755002, Harvard University's "Transition" https://muse.jhu.edu/article/561211 and Brill's "Philological Encounters" https://brill.com/abstract/journals/phen/3/4/article-p524_6.xml
His published monograph positions the writing of the blinded champion boxer Andrew Jeptha as an important contribution to Postcolonial and Disability Studies: https://www.cambridgescholars.com/to-write-as-a-boxer
Campbell’s recent artworks combine sculpture and Augmented Reality (AR) to facilitate interactive art experiences. Recent exhibitions that reflect these creative concerns include Night Fighter (2014) https://www.kurt-campbell.com/nightfighter and Boxing Ghosts (2015) https://www.kurt-campbell.com/boxing-ghosts at the District Six Museum. These projects were largely concerned with historical interpretation through exhibition making and the productive possibilities that early black pugilists from Cape Town offer in thinking the limits of racial subjectivity and self-craft in contemporary society.
The exhibition “Athlone in Mind” was curated by Campbell in 2017 forming part of the annual meeting of the Consortium for Humanities Centres and Institutes. The accompanying catalogue and digital interface was awarded the University of the Western Cape Faculty of Arts Publication Award for 2017 for Creative Work https://www.athloneinmind.com/home .
Campbell holds a BAFA and P.G.C.E. from the University of Cape Town and a MAFA from Stellenbosch University where he taught for four years before joining the Michaelis School of Fine Art. His PhD was completed at the Centre for Humanities Research (NRF Flagship on Critical Thought in African Humanities) at the University of the Western Cape.
Michaelis School of Fine Art
University of Cape Town
31 -37 Orange Street Gardens
8001 Cape Town
South Africa
Tell: 021 650 7111
Fax: 021 424 2889