Feature image: Temple |Xam by Jonx Pillemer, profile pic by Kood De Kock, words by Shannon Smith

This man has changed your life, and many of you probably don’t even know it. Do you remember that magical piece that was built in 2016 and only burned a few years later…? The Temple of |Xam, inspired by the original First Nations people of the Tankwa Karoo, and brought to life by Kim Goodwin and his team, made an impact and everlasting memories for thousands of Burners and beyond.

With a long term fascination for large-scale art, Kim has spent many years of his life working with sculpture & even has his own bronze-casting foundry. This fixation mixing with his instant love for the Tankwa Karoo resulted in him and his stellar team creating artworks such as The Fear Gods, Earth Pods, the Wattle Tower & more.

He draws his inspiration from the limitless boundaries of the desert. The camaraderie, endless potential and the humans he bonds with along the way are the aspects that keep him coming back. He speaks highly of his build team, Craig Webster, his son Ben Goodwin, Bo Tasker, Luke Falconer & Lara Kirsten. They are, as many of us know, the Dandylions.

Building the Temple of |Xam in honour of the First Nations People and working with the challenges in the desert over an extended period of time sent Kim on a wonderful journey of learning this country and its history in a different way.

Kim loves AfrikaBurn, and is loved by everyone from the AfrikaBurn team to the people on the Binnekring (indirectly or not) – he has a soft spot for the epic DPW Team, and has formed wonderful friendships with Operations Team members along the way. Journeying 22 hours from the KZN Midlands for each burn, and continuing to do artscape projects in the Karoo, speaks to his greatest piece of advice for any Burner out there: Participate. Get Involved.

Be part of this thing that everyone does. Do something different. Break the mould, put up your hand, whatever shape it takes – Participate.

Because you only really know, until you know.

For this Kim, you are, indeed, a “Good Win!”