THINGS TO THINK ABOUT IF YOU WANT TO MAKE ART AT AFRIKABURN: 

THE CREW

Choose your crew wisely. Your team can make it happen or drag you down! Build your team, and make sure that everybody in your team buys into at least some aspect of your project. You need your team to feel ownership for this project.

Spread the love. Consider including someone new in your team, who otherwise would probably not have the chance of experiencing this. Diversity and skills exchange are encouraged. Remember that radical inclusion is a thing at AfrikaBurn.

MATERIALS

Be creative. Recycle. We encourage you to use of waste materials and we love it when you turn waste into art  Burning your art piece is not mandatory and not encouraged, but if you feel that it is important to the actualisation of your vision of the piece, then we’re happy for you to do this. If it is your intention to burn the piece then be mindful of what materials you use in the construction. 

DESIGN – RELOCATE, REPURPOSE or BURN?

Design your artwork with a purpose! Start at the end point and work your way back. A world with more art in it is a better world so ideally your artwork will have a life beyond AfrikaBurn and Tankwa Town. When designing your piece, think of what you would like to do with it next: would you like it to be reconstituted in a public space after the event? If so, design your piece to be dismantled and reassembled.

Would you like your artwork to be the beginning of something else? The materials of your artwork can be donated after the event. If that’s your plan, consider how to make use of materials in a such a way that they can be repurposed, in the design phase.

Are you planning on burning your piece? Please think carefully about your motivations. Although your artwork does not need to be approved, your burn does. If you would like to burn your artwork, design a burning artwork. Please read more about Building Art to Burn.

INTERACTIVITY

The challenge and freedom you have at Tankwa Town is to create something that will inspire, engage, question, puzzle, amuse, seduce, generally rub up against and influence the citizens of Tankwa Town. Interactive work convenes society around itself – it generates roles, provokes actions and transforms participants into active contributors to a creative process.

Participants at Tankwa Town are encouraged to explore and interact with the art, or perform some task to activate an art object. Touching, climbing, entering, engaging and exploring are encouraged – think about this when designing and dreaming up your piece.

SAFETY

Your artwork has to be safe! It is your responsibility to make sure that the citizens of Tankwa Town are safe around your piece. Take into account the elements, the climbers and the midnight wanderers. Lighting your piece is a very important safety aspect. Please read more about Artworks Structural Safety.

LIGHTING

Use light as an aesthetic element and include it in the design of your piece. Lighting your artwork is mandatory for safety reasons, but while you’re at it, why not make it in a beautiful way? When designing your artwork, don’t forget to make provision for lights, including how you’re going to make sure that your piece is lit throughout the event. Please read more about Lighting your Art Installation.

SOUND

Art installations on the Binnekring may contain ambient sound elements that are integral to the installation. Does your project have a sound component or is it a party site? You’ll have to motivate to have installed sound on your artwork. If you’re considering this, please read our Sound Policy.

SET UP

Please consider coming early to set up before the gate opens, so that when the event starts you are not working during the event to complete your piece (you’ll need to get permission for an early arrival). Do not underestimate the Tankwa weather. Allow yourself enough time to build your artwork.
If you are going to be doing an extended build in Tankwa, there are a lot of things to consider. You will be allowed to set up your camping and workstation at the build site, but will have to move prior to the start of the event with enough time to MOOP and make the site safe. You should also consider whether you are happy with setting up your personal camp twice. Chat to some people who’ve done it before, get good tips and advice – it’s not easy.

GETTING THERE

You’re taking your piece a long distance to an outdoor event, at the end of a long stretch of dirt road, in the desert. Keep this in mind when you’re doing your planning! If your artwork is large you’ll need the right transport. Think about weight, size, and a suitable vehicle. Remember the weighbridges and don’t forget the dirt roads. Consider the cost of building in Town and transporting the larger pieces of artwork vs. transporting flat packed items and assembling them on site.

ACCOUNTABILITY

We aim to leave our venue as close to the way we found it as possible. You must have a plan for the removal of your artwork and all associated debris. Please read about Leave No Trace.

REGISTRATION

We invite you to register your artwork by filling in the Art Registration form online. This is not a requirement – unless you are intending on burning your artwork and/or want to apply for a Creative Grant – but it is useful! The form is designed to help you work through all the complexities of bringing art to AfrikaBurn.

And if your artwork is registered we can allocate a specific spot for it on (or off) the Binnekring, and include it in the gate handout.

NB: Your artwork does not need to be “approved” (unless it is radically unsafe or inappropriate), so don’t hold off on creating!