Looking for a little something to light your creative fire, and tickle your fancy dress? A teeny tiny taste of things to come? Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we bring you…the 2012 AfrikaBurn Creative Grant awards!

As you’re no doubt aware, AfrikaBurn has grown quickly since 2007. In line with the growing number of participants, the number of Creative Art Grant applications has skyrocketed. AfrikaBurn received 92 grant applications for 2012, compared to 51 last year. With a bigger grant pot this year we have been able to offer support to 51 projects compared to 27 last year. A big thank you to the Burn community – this support is offered from the surplus we make through ticket sales and our Decompression and Equinox fundraiser events.

Walk tall and be proud friends, we’ve done good. So, what do we have to look forward to, this year? A lot!

PERFORMANCE

Critical Tits: The inaugural topless bike ride at Tankwa Town – bring your bike and your boobies, this one is strictly for the sistas
http://www.facebook.com/groups/327783697258173/
Fire in the Sky: Great balls of fire!
Los Fuegos: A wild vaudeville fire show.
NoollabBallooN: A bird’s eye view of Tankwa Town.
Disco Don’t Follow Me:  The little rickshaw bar with a big attitude. Don’t follow them.

MUTANT VEHICLES

Burning Mail Post Van:  Burning Mail will be bringing it to you on 4 wheels this year.
Death Ride: Take a ride on the dark side in this blue velvet disco lounge.
Hooked and Hoisted: First you get hooked, then you get hoisted and hitched at this mobile wedding chapel. Aaaaar right?!
Fishy fish fish:  A wonderfully whimsical giant fish awash with colour and waves of pattern.
Green Meanie: Flaming tumbleweed hurled off the back of an enormous catapult.
MOOP mobile: This mutant bicycle will crush your cans and reduce your load for the trip back home. Leave No Trace.
Peacock Nickelodeon: A peacock in full display takes a slow strut around the Binnekring.
Smoke and Mirrors: It’s disco baby!
Stoomtrekker: The mutant steam punk steam engine desert tractor is back in all it’s red glory. Whistle blow, engine turn.
The Ambivalance: Mobile interventions into norMal-ity
The Motorised Couch Project: Sit back, relax. This one’s for the armchair environmentalists.

THEME CAMPS

Domain:  Reincarnated as a wacky circus ring, this collaborative space is open to any performers looking for a venue.
Good Clean Fun: Come clean, get dirty. Come dirty, get clean. Either way you’re going to get your dance on and get wet.
Land of Soft Things at Judy Park: It’s going to be so soft!
LEDHEDz : Ele-mental!  The LEDs are bringing it big this year, with some serious desert tech.
http://www.facebook.com/ledhedz
Ubuntu Mash Up:  Add carnival, dance, giant puppets, music, song, and energy together. Then turn everything on its head to mix things up even more.
http://www.facebook.com/groups/ubunutmashup
 

ART

A Reflection of Childhood: Step inside this larger than life pop-up book.
Cairotron: A thousand points of light.
Carrot Egg: This top-secret project will blow you away … you’ve never seen anything like it. Believe!
Celebrating Creative Spirit:  This 7 circle labyrinth combines collaborative meditation with land art.
Complicit: An iconic kinetic fire sculpture.
Decoy: A simple representation of a host of complexities that at first glance appear to be something that they are not.
Fear Gods, The Door and The Viewing Platform:  Merging human, animal and god form, these therianthropic figures open a window between the everyday and the spiritual world.
Find Yourself:  A monolithic landmark. Even as it provides a point of reference in the night terrain, illusionary illumination unpins the artwork from mundane reality. In Tankwa Town all is never as it seems!
http://www.facebook.com/FindYourself2012
Giant Pinpression:  To make an impression or not to make an impression… And two to make a conversation with this giant toy.
Gong!: Come ring the bell, come make a mighty racket. Calling all burners, new and old, the virgin bell is reinvented.
hope box soapbox: A platform for expression. Your chance to stand out from the crowd and say your bit.
Khamsin: A desert sandstorm swept into form. A play of light and shadow. Delicate, powerful.
http://khamsinproject.withtank.com/
http://www.facebook.com/khamsinproject
http://beta.indiegogo.com/Khamsin

Love You Long Time:  This sculptural piece, in steel, cane and fabric, reflects the mirage of that which we hold dear and deem permanent. In commemoration of losing a close friend, and becoming a mother.
Mekhanikos: A larger-than-life music box mechanism, this kinetic sculpture explores the simplicity of mechanics, functional art, and how placing things in a certain pattern can result in something as profound as music.
Meniscus :  As above, so below. A delightful miniature temple floating in the desert with its own reflection mirrored beneath it, giving the illusion of a meniscus, a water line, and in so doing filling the desert around it with illusionary water.
MOOP:  This large sculpture delivers a very clear message. Read it, live it. Leave No Trace.
Oasis Sunset: An oasis, best viewed at sunset when the sun shines through the palms and the dunes shine in silhouette. At night the sun changes to the moon and projections dance across the dunes.
Peace Pipes: A large-scale multi-player musical tubulum, allowing us to explore our unique creative expression as individuals within the wider unified harmony of humanity.
Solace:  Rising out of the desert, a giant flame calls to you.  A space of reflection, a space to gain perspective, a space to feel your connection to the flame, your spirit, your loved ones and your lost ones.
http://www.solaceafrikaburn.info/
The Amazing Camera Obscura: Walk inside this tented room to experience Camera Obscura, an ancient optical device that brings the image of the outside world inside, playfully reflecting it through a disc or a periscope.
The Illusion of Separateness:  The work captures the shells of humans, placing them around each other, capturing their essence, while utilizing them as guardians to the greater human experience.
The Mighty Bench: A beautiful thing in a beautiful place, a distant reward for effort expended. A contemplative sunset spot.
The No Spectator: Bringing you the news in Tankwa Town’s very own daily. Contributions welcome. Get it while it’s hot!
Tori: A giant white bird-shaped tent structure, this piece symbolizes freedom and celebrates the traditional Japanese craft of Origami.
Shimmer:  Dancing light on the horizon, a shimmering mirage.

HERE’S THE BREAKDOWN

Artworks:                         52 applied, 27 supported
Performances:                 13 applied, 7 supported
Mutant Vehicles:             15 applied, 12 supported
Theme Camps:                12 applied, 5 supported
Withdrawals:                     2 performances, 1 mutant vehicle, 3 artworks

For their time and effort in processing these applications, a big round of thanks should be given up for our Creative Art Director, Sam Bendzulla, and the Art Committee team members Brad Baard, Conrad Hicks, Monique Schiess, Robert Weinek and Roger Van Wyk!