Tankwa Karoo is the site of the annual AfrikaBurn – a temporary city in South Africa that is an official regional event of Burning Man and includes art, theme camps, costume, mutant cars, music and performance, just like Black Rock City. This year’s theme is Archtypes, and several members of the Burning Man and Burning Man Project including Beth Scarborough (BettieJune), Bear Kittay and Dominic Tinio (DA) as well as Michelle Ochoa (Black Rock Solar) journeyed to Africa to experience the event, learn from the AfrikaBurn organizers and serve as both a resource and as ambassadors from Black Rock City and Burning Man Project.
“I was totally inspired by AfrikaBurn and the Burning Man culture in South Africa,” explained Kittay, Burning Man Project Social Alchemist. “We hosted a “salon” on Tankwa on Sunday with 23 of the organizers which is the start of a much more active two-way dialogue.”
Running from May 1 – 6, this year’s event attracted a record 8,000 joyful participants from around the world, and is the largest event outside of Black Rock City. Held at a private farm named Stonehenge, AfrikaBurn began in 2007 and its main sculpture is known as San Clan. Designed to look like a San rock art glyph of a group of people, its intention is to convey the idea of unity and community at the event.