I’ve never been. But year after year, I’ve looked enviously at pictures of what looks like people having the time of their lives at AfrikaBurn in the Tankwa Karoo.
A long weekend, with like-minded people, far away from distraction and social convention, where music plays till dawn. Clearly it’s the party of the year and I should be on the dry stretch of land between Calvinia and Ceres this weekend for the South African version of the US event Burning Man.
But it’s not a party, says the website. And if you’re a journalist in pursuit of a story, I read further, and “you lose sight of what the event is about and choose to portray it in a narrow manner which projects your personal interpretation of it, then you, as a member of the media, have failed in your duty to be objective and capture its essence”.
Oh dear. Five thousand people will be gathering in a dusty bowl in one of the most remote areas of our country not to party. For what then? It’s also not a trance festival. Nor is it about getting high, having sex and behaving badly, the website stresses.
I call an old friend and one of the organisers, Conrad Hicks.
“It’s not a party,” he says firmly. “The whole event in itself is a performance art experience. It puts people in a different frame of mind and challenges participants about their perceptions about art and music. It’s about tolerance and non-commercialism.”
AfrikaBurn is a gift economy, where people offer and give gifts. Your money’s no good in Tankwa Town, warns the website. Nothing is for sale except the tickets, which are not sold at the gate. The tickets vary between R350 and R700 – the money is used to help cover organising and financing the event.
Possibly the best definition of AfrikaBurn, without attending and finding out myself, is from a quote about Burning Man: “Our intention is to generate a society that connects each individual to his or her creative powers, to participation in community, to the larger realm of civic life, and to the even greater world of nature . beyond society.”
Hicks says: “You go to give and to open yourself up to amazing, unexpected stuff. You learn that small things are beautiful.”
Like what? I ask.
Last year, a group of people came to him and read from a book. And he tells of another incident when his 12-year-old daughter was cycling through the beautiful landscape and a naked man on a 3m-high bicycle joined to cycle alongside her.
Meeting a strange naked man in the desert, for most people, could be a little surprising. But “nudity, iconoclastic art, sexuality, rude language, cultural commentary, and weird behaviour are all a part of the AfrikaBurn experience”, and children should be prepared for this.
The website is full of similar instructions. There are lists of what to bring, what not to bring, how to camp, and where to camp. Most of this is intended for first-timers who might not know of the event’s philosophy nor be aware of the harsh Karoo environment.
I’ve been curious, sceptical and irritated by the online tone of instruction, but I am still keen to go next year. I won’t be taking my party glitter along. You’re told to save the glitter for “the disco, divas. It’s a bitch to clean up after”.
- For more information visit www.afrikaburn.com
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Article source: http://www.timeslive.co.za/lifestyle/2012/04/26/is-it-art-saving-glitter-for-divas