| Maker(s): | Katchian, Sonia
| | Culture: | American, born Lebanon (1947-)
| | Title: | Mohammed Ali Training in Zaire from Artifacts at the End of a Decade
| | Date Made: | 1974
| | Type: | Photograph; Mixed-Media
| | Materials: | Gelatin print, with a strand of rope from the "Rumble in the Jungle" boxing ring in which Muhammad Ali defeated George Foreman on October 30, 1974
| | Place Made: | Zaire/USA
| | Measurements: | Overall: 1 15/16 in x 17 in; 4.9 cm x 43.2 cm; Sheet: 10 7/8 in x 13 15/16 in; 27.6 cm x 35.4 cm
| | Narrative Inscription: | SIGNATURE/PLACE/DATE: front, lwr. l. (black ink): Sonia Katchian Zäire '74; SIGNATURE: front, lwr.r. (black ink): Mohammed Ali
| | Accession Number: | UM 1986.71.17
| | Credit Line: | Purchased with funds from University of Massachusetts Alumni Association and Robert D. Watson in memory of Mary Watson.
| | Museum Collection: | University Museum of Contemporary Art at UMASS Amherst
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Label Text:
"I see history revolving around the polarities of good and evil and this decade has been no exception," Katchian wrote in 1981. "My photography leads me from one extreme of good to one extreme of evil." As a photojournalist, she covered the 1968 presidential campaign of the racist Alabama governor George Wallace for LIFE magazine, including the assassination attempt that ended his campaign.
"On the other end of the spectrum, I spent 2 months in Zaire prior to the big fight photographing Muhammad, who I felt really epitomized the good forces of life.
Ali's strategy against Foreman was called 'rope-a-dope.'
"I would like to contribute as an artifact of the '70s a piece of that rope – divided into 150 pieces – as well as a photograph from Zaire."
Sonia Katchian had a chance meeting with Muhammad Ali that led to a 14-year career photographing "The Greatest," which sent her not only to "The Rumble in the Jungle" against Foreman in '74, but also to "The Thrilla in Manila" against Joe Frazier in '75. Her photos are in the permanent collections of the new Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, KY, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian Institution among others.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=UM+1986.71.17 |
