Afrika Burn is not for everyone.  That said, it’s definitely something you should experience.  A lot of our visitors will be familiar with large outdoor trance parties like Easter and New Years Vortex, Alien Safari, and a whole host of smaller (and arguably better) independent outdoor progressive and electro parties.  Afrika Burn is not like this.

Those of you expecting to fill up on chemicals, grab a double vodka Red Bull from the bar and bounce around past sunrise should check your attitude at the gates, and relinquish any preconceptions about trance parties before you even think about it.

This year, The Daily Discharge staff photographer Cameron Richards is not only attending – he is investing himself fully in the event.  He will be spending nearly a month in the desert (and many long nights beforehand) as part of the DPW (Department of Public Works) crew, helping to set up and provide the basics for the festival goers.  He is also helping to build the main sculpture, called ‘San Clan’, which we expect to look something like this (and is traditionally burnt at the climax of the festival):

His mission for the festival will be to take as many photographs as possible, documenting the entire process for his final year Photography project (Cameron is currently a fine art student at UCT’s Michaelis School of Art).  His images from last year’s Afrika Burns 2009 were nothing short of breathtaking, and we expect that this year he will outdo himself.

Afrika Burn is held on the longest stretch of highway without a town on either side (the literal middle of nowhere), and is an “experiment in temporary community building, radical self expression, self-reliance and non-commercialism”.  What that means is that there are no cash bars, no trinket stalls, and nothing to buy (or even barter for).  Your money is no good there.  You must either bring everything you need, or rely on the community’s generosity for your needs.  To quote from their website:

“This “gift economy” means that there is no commercial exchange at the event – no vending, no cash bars and no branded promotion of services or products – the aim being real social interaction. It is an exercise in total self-reliance: participants camp for four days and provide entirely for themselves, including all their water, shelter and food needs”

What’s more, everyone who comes to the festival is expected to “gift” something to the community.  This can be as simple as handing out orange slices in the noon sun or playing the guitar by the campfire, or as elaborate as building a large structure (or ‘Wish’) to be burnt as an offering to the community.

Image © Cameron Richards Photography

“If you come to AfrikaBurn, you must participate in whatever way you can. We want no spectators.”

If this sounds like a bunch of hippy nonsense, and all far too dirty and dusty for you: save yourself the trouble and stay at home.  But think hard before you write it off.  This is an experience of a lifetime, waiting for you to grab it.

The principles and ideology behind Afrika Burn come from those embraced originally by the Burning Man festivals abroad (although rumour has it that these festivals have sadly lost some of their free spirit and open, community-oriented atmosphere).

The bottom line, and something we wish to stress, is that everyone is welcome.  The festival’s principles of radical inclusion (whoever you are, we accept you) and immediacy (immediate experience being the touchstone of the Afrika Burns society) are paramount, and everyone who attends needs to bear these in mind.

Afrika Burn 2010 may be just a five-day event, but the company itself (Afrika Burns) aims to be a continuous collaboration that will foster large-scale public art and the sharing of creative energy.  It is a not-for-profit organisation, with any money earned being returned to the artistic community through art grants.

To sum up: this is not just a trance event, or a music festival, or an art exhibition.  It is not just a party, an event, or a road trip.  It is a departure from everything you have come to know and expect from modern society, and a drastic step towards finding new ways of being part of humanity. I’d like to leave you with this quote from the organisers:

“Afrika Burns aims to be radically inclusive: we hope that its meaning is potentially accessible to anyone. The touchstone of value in our culture will always be immediacy: experience before theory, moral relationships before politics, survival before services, roles before jobs, embodied ritual before symbolism, work before vested interest, participant support before sponsorship.  We hope that the ideas in the principles will become a way of life for those who have experienced them, spawning independence, initiative and creative expression.”

So think about it, and if you don’t go this year, put it on your bucket list.

They are just a few of the hundreds of images he took over the course of the weekend.  When he could remember which way to hold his camera. Most of these are shown as-shot, with little or no alteration.

This will (hopefully) be part one of a two-part series of images taken by extremely talented friends of mine.  We hope you enjoy them.

If you’d like to see more of Cameron’s art, you can find him at http://cameronrichards.com, or you can visit his page on facebook.

The Hogs Live at Synergy

Our crew was there to see Hogs, if we missed anything else. And despite any incapacitation or hallucinations, we trooped down to the stage to jam to our heroes.  Check out Kyle’s post to get a feel for what the pit was like.

If you weren't there, you can't understand

Being in that crowd, when you know the words and your friends are around you, is what everyone there came for. And we got it for three days solid.

The Rudimentals put on a jamming set.  Which I sadly missed, because it was 40 degrees Celsius and we were all passed out under the gazebo farm. Fortunately one of us was there to capture it.

Fokofpolisiekar were one of the most exciting bands of the weekend. Unfortunately they swapped their set with the band before them, and we got there late.  But at least we saw most of it. Francois seemed to put just about everything into that performance, and the effect on the crowd was awesome to see.

It might seem like we’re romanticising it, but we’re not. It was every bit as cool as it looks and if you missed it, you missed out.

And finally, the shot which I feel pretty much sums it up. Two crazy characters, as happy as you can imagine, streaked with sweat and dirt, popping up in front of the camera just before the shot was taken.  This is exactly how it came out, and if you want to know in an image how Synergy Live 2009 was, here it is.