Afrika Burns

Afrika Burns is an annual, creative arts festival with complete freedom of expression. I have selected this as my ritual because I have spent the past week in the Karoo desert observing and participating in the most intense, inspiring gathering of people, events and ideas that I have ever experienced. The main objective of Afrika Burns is simply to create an atmosphere for participants to project any creative endeavor that they desire and to project aspects of themselves in an environment with no outside judgment or pressures. It is an exercise in total self-reliance; participants camp for five days and provide entirely for themselves, including all their water, shelter and food needs. All money was prohibited; gifting was the only form of exchange. Free love was the underlying theme of the ritual. Love for oneself demonstrated through the lack of make-up, mirrors, razors and clean and stylish clothing, all of which allow a person to reflect on oneself from his or her core. Love for others through gifting, interacting with others without the daily distraction of life and responsibilities, meeting people from all over the world, and seeing beyond their exterior. Finally, love for nature by truly getting to the basics with no running water, electricity, plumbing or littering. All are welcome in this ritual. The only stipulation for attending is that you must participate in whatever way you can: donating something to the community, creating a piece of art, or offering a service. An offering can be large-scale interactive art, music, and performance installations, or small interpersonal offerings between fellow participants such as offering wet-wipes to all those exiting toilets or offering a cooling spray from a water filled spray bottle on a hot day. It was an incredibly liberating week of my life.

Afrika Burns was a festival like no other I have seen. It felt like a retrospective circus. Tents of every imaginable color, red, white, purple, orange, green, and neon pink, were arranged in a wide circle leaving a center to be filled with art installations and dancing, congregation people. The tents were decorated with hearts, lanterns, balloons, flags, and banners. They were constructed with thick canvas stretched taut over long bamboo sticks. The tents varied in size, and my group’s tent was approximately 6 meters by 12 meters of canvas shielding us from the harsh desert sun. Participants also had small camping tents scattered around and some were even mounted on top of their vehicles. One of the most fascinating additions that truly created the circus, festival atmosphere were the vehicles that people travel in. For instance, there was a mini cooper covered in orange carpet with a white, sixty-nine pool ball adorning either side that a clown could have popped out of at any moment. There was also a trailed that had been transformed into a massive battle ship with red sails, which hauled around tens of people at a time blaring much as it went. Best of all was the bukkie covered with hot pink feathers, streamers, and air horns pulling a living room complete with a television, a matching love seat and couch set, mounted deer antlers, a family portrait, 1980’s lampshades and wood paneling. On the front of the bukkie were two horns that sent out burst of flames into the dark night while half naked people danced and sang along to an eclectic mix of oldies and contemporary music.

The people at Afrika Burns were as unique and ostentatious as the tents and vehicles they brought. One of the first people I saw was a cross dresser wearing a hot pink, sequin dress with white platform heels and a pink afro. He was one of the most extreme examples of freedom of expression that I encountered. There was a lot of makeshift clothing and hand sown dresses. Girls wore scarves tied around their heads to hide the unwashed, matted hair. Scarves also comprised the wardrobe for many girls as dresses or skirts. Guys were often shirtless with jeans or khaki shorts. We had to dress accordingly with the weather, which required changing clothes three times per day: dressing warmly in jeans and sweaters in the morning, changing into shorts or dresses in midday; and returning to the warm clothing with an additional scarf or layer in the evening. Given the artiness of most participants, many added very ostentatious accessories to their outfits from buttons to feathers to lights. Many also had their bodies and faces painted with bright designs. The best thing about the apparel for this ritual is that everyone could wear absolutely whatever he or she wanted, or lack thereof for the very free souls, without any judgment or worry of not fitting in.

Gender and age were of little concern in the dynamics of the ritual. Everyone was in the same environment with the same access to water, food and supplies. All people, men, women, young and old, participated in some artistic and loving fashion. The majority of participants were in their twenties and thirties, but there were people from every age group represented. Afrika Burns is one of the few instances where I felt completely equal and not discriminated against in anyway. Also in this event there was no sense or concern with time. During the five days the only instance that time was mentioned was in reference to when meals would be prepared. This was again a very liberating change from my normal, daily life.

The aspect of Afrika Burns that encompasses the ritualistic qualities most strongly was the burnings. The ritualistic burnings occurred at night. Day one nothing was burned. The second night two wooden figures of a man and a woman connected by a rod between their chests were sacrificed. Ironically, the man had a penis where his heart should have been despite the theme of love. On the third night, a ship with tattered sails went up in flames. This burning was accompanied with the first display of nudity of the event. A thin, white male in his mid-twenties was the initiator. No one expressed any opposition to his expression of freedom, but many of us were mildly startled initially. Following this, nudity accompanied each burning thereafter.

Day four was the focal night of Afrika Burns. It began with the sacrificing of the Burning Men. This event drew the largest gather of participants, both clothed and unclothed. The red ship and living room trucks were adding their oldies and techno-music to the ambiance; the smell of cigarettes, alcohol, and paraffin filled the crisp, cool air; and flaming men illuminated the dark, starry sky. The simplicity of such an experience that is able to stun and captivate hundreds of people from all over the world who have undoubtedly seem many of the world’s wonders is remarkable. It brings humanity back to a primal state of being. The fourth night continued well into the dawn. After the Burning Men was the lighting of the Pendulum. Again, all of us starred at the ball of fire swinging in between two massive pillars in fascination. We were all standing on our tip toes in anticipation for the ball to reach the very top of the circular pay and flip. You could hear the chant of “go, go, go” and “ah, so close” with each swing. Finally, the crowd roared with celebration when the circle was complete. We all continued watching the Pendulum in amazement until it was finally stopped by the igniter. For an hour, we were all brought back to childhood. The next object to burn was what we termed the Birth Canal. There were many names thrown around for this piece, the Whale and the Echo, and the beauty of Afrika Burns is that everyone was free to interpret things as he or she wished. There were no boundaries or expectations. The Birth Canal was a series of red wooden panels arched into a half moon shape. The wood went up in flames very quickly and the entire structure was down to ashes within ten minutes. This night, like every other, carried on with plenty of drinking and dancing.

On the fifth and final night, the Letgo Man was sacrificed. He was a four meter tall replica of the Lego man surrounding with blue, white, yellow and red blocks with “letgo” carved out on the top of them. The Letgo Man had been the center of congregation for the group throughout the duration of Afrika Burns so it was a bitter sweet burning. The loudest cheer came when the Letgo Man’s head crashed to the ground and rolled to the edge of the circle of on-lookers. Being the final night, all pieces around the camp had to be burned. Therefore, into the flames of the Letgo Man’s remains went a heard of sheep, a collection of frames, and support poles. This was the first time that participants were allowed to come into contact with the fire. Again, we were all as giddy as children searching for any wooden objects that would give us access to the inner circle.

After the Letgo Man fired simmered, the group migrated to the three meter by three meter Rubrics Cube. The Rubrics Cube was first constructed in its unsolved form with a mixture of green, yellow, red and blue squares decorating each side, but on the night of the burning it was now solved. Apparently it had been repainted during the previous night. As it when up in flames the structure of the Cube remained; the multi-squared pattern was carried into the sky by the rising smoke. All of the on-lookers were in awe. It went down quickly in comparison to the other objects due to its smaller size. The final burning of Afrika Burns was the Sleepy Head. It was layered wood carved into the shape of a profile of face sleeping on a pillow. The burning was accompanied by a parade of nude people dancing around its smoldering ashes to electro-music. It created a very tribal and primitive feel. Later, as I was laying my head on my pillow, I could still feel the vibration of the music.
On the sixth day, everyone was packing up and moving out. There was a solemn ambiance on this day as we were all reluctant to leave is open, care-free, loving celebration to head back to our real lives again. Yes, people were ready for the luxuries of a bed and shower, but with that came the responsibilities and constraints of the real world; time to grow up and be an adult again.

Afrika Burns is a ritual that celebrates freedom of expression and love for all of humanity. It is growing by the hundred each year and will continue to grow in the future no doubt. As my own experience and my interviews reflect, Afrika Burns is a liberating experience that will undoubtedly enhance the lives of all who participate.