As part of the Cultural Olympiads, a multidisciplinary artistic and cultural programme supported by the French Ministry of Culture, the Royal Salt Works organised an international boxing event on Sunday 24 March 2024.
To coincide with the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, art and sport are interacting and enriching each other at the Saline Royale d'Arc-et-Senans, which is hosting an international boxing match for the first time by installing a boxing ring in the centre of its new Salle Ledoux.
The day was punctuated by three highlights. Firstly, Stéphane Hadjéras, Doctor of Contemporary History, Head of History at the French Boxing Federation and Associate Researcher at the Centre Lucien Febvre, gave a talk on the career of Georges Carpentier, the first French professional boxer to become world champion in English boxing. Secondly, participants attended the film concert of Le Roman de Carpentier, the first sports biopic in history, made in 1913 and restored in 2023. It featured live sound by DJ Maxime Dangles. Finally, the day ended with seven English boxing bouts between the French junior team and the Swedish team.
This International Boxing Meeting is a project that has been awarded the Cultural Olympiad label by Paris 2024, in partnership with the Besançon Ring Athlétique club and the Association des Centres culturels de rencontre.