Back in 1986, The Burning man started as a bonfire ritual by Larry Harvey and Jerry James along with few more friends on the Baker Beach San Francisco. There they burnt an 8FT tall effigy of a man made up of wood and a smaller sized effigy of a wooden dog. Larry Harvey has described the reason for burning the wooden man as “spontaneous act of radical self-expression.” This effigy was made of scrapped wood, and by 1988, flyers titled “Burning man” inviting people for the effigy burning event was distributed. From 1990, for 28 years now, The Burning Man Annual Festival is held every year Starting last Monday of August and ending on the first Monday of September at Nevada’s the Black Rock Desert.

It is a weeklong event for experimenting in community art, radical self-expression and radical self-reliance. More than sixty thousand people gather in the Black Rock Desert to display interesting Art Works. The artworks are non-conservative with out of the box approach. For example, you may find an art car that resembles a Pirates ship; you may also see a giant telephone on Wheels, etc. Artists must submit designs for their mutant vehicles in advance. Black Rock City has its own DMV, or Division of Mutant Vehicles, that must approve and inspect all art cars. In addition to burning an effigy of a man, the temple (in the picture below) is also burned as a regular activity at the event. Artworks are displayed all around the Black Rock Desert during the Burning Man event.  Before leaving, the people participating pitch in to restore the desert back to its original state at the end of the festival.

 

The Temple – Burned with the Effigy of the Man

 

Gaint Telephone

 

They clean the whole place “Leaving no trace” of the event. Other Burning Man principles are as listed below:

The 10 Principles of Burning Man

Larry Harvey laid down 10 Principles in the year 2004, which marked as a guideline for them. They were listed not to dictate people about how they must be or act, but as a reflection of the community’s ideology and culture as it had initially been developed since the event’s start.

 

Radical Inclusion

Anybody may participate in the Burning Man event. There are no restrictions or prerequisites for participants.

 

Gifting

Burning Man is dedicated for acts of giving a gift. The value of a gift does not matter and does not involve the exchange or return of equal valued gifts.

Decommodification

For preserving the spirit of gifting, the community needs to build a social environment that must not be intervened by any  We stand ready to protect our The culture must be protected from such exploitation.

 

Radical Self-reliance

Burning Man inspires people to identify and rely on their inner consciousness.

 Radical Self-expression

The Unique talents of the individual results in Radical self-expression.Other than the individual or group can determine the meaning of the artwork. Such artwork is gifted to other participants, and they must respect the liberties of the recipient.

 Communal Effort

Community values create collaboration, cooperation and promote to protect public spaces, social networks, works of art, and ways of communication that supports such interaction.

 Civic Responsibility

We value civil society. Community members who organize events assume responsibility for public welfare and will communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They also assume responsibility for conducting events keeping in mind the local, state and federal laws.

 Leaving No Trace

 Respecting the environment is an important principle where no trace of the activities are left behind. All the work is cleaned, and the place must look in the same way as it had prior to the event

Participation

Radical participation is what the community is committed to. Transforming either on the individual or community level is possible only by personally involved participation

Immediacy

Immediate experience is the most vital value in the culture by overcoming hindrance that lay between one and their inner selves. Recognizing the real and natural world.