The Baardskeerder - AfrikaBurn's Newsletter - View web version
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UP & AT 'EM! It's that time of year once again: project registrations are flooding in, and ideas are so thick in the air you could catch a bunch with a butterfly net. Fair enough: the wheel has turned and everyone's looking forward towards April, and everything that lies between here and the start of That Dirt Road. As a result, this here Baardskeerder is rammed with all sorts of interesting developments, callouts and not a small amount of updates on some truly impressive creative endeavours. Trot on, dig in and up & at 'em!
In this newsletter:
 (shot by Jonx Pillemer)
PROJECT REGISTRATION UPDATES
So, you've got this project, and it's going to blow minds to smithereens come the end of April? Fokken-A, well played - thanks for the effort, we hope it all goes clickety clack all the way to Die Hek and beyond. Between now and then, of course, you would be aware that you're able to register your project - and with that comes the opportunity to get advice from our team on stuff like placement, technical advice and logistical challenges like transport. Registration also means that your project's able to be included in our WTF event guide, but there's more - thanks to the tireless efforts of our tech crew, you're now able to list your registered project on our Community Directory, which enables you to indicate if you're looking for crew or collaborators. Because, you know, community's all about building bridges and connections. Haven't registered your project yet? No worries - there's still time to do that, but we suggest hustling to do it sooner rather than later. Here's where: Artworks Theme Camps Mutant Vehicles Performance  (this shot of the ActionArte crew performing at 2015's event is by Sean Furlong) COMMUNITY TICKETS & OUTREACH GRANTS Speaking of projects and building community, for many years now, we've had various initiatives that are designed to make our event more accessible and inclusive. One of the ways we've set out to achieve that has been through making a tickets available to groups of marginalised artists and cultural practitioners who do not have the means to participate at AfrikaBurn. These plans have been bearing fruit well over the past couple of years, and we're ramping them up even further in 2017 - so, if you're a Theme Camp or a Creative Grant beneficiary, you're encouraged to diversify your crews by applying for Community Tickets - or an Outreach Grant. Interested? Here's where you can find out more and apply: Sounds great - take me to the info! TICKETS? The short & sweet of it: our next (and final) ticket sale is on Friday Feb 3rd, at 12 midday SA time. To buy 'em, you'll need a Bio - and if you have one already, just remember to log into our site once ahead of the sale in order to activate your Bio. To activate your Bio, or create one, head this way: new.afrikaburn.com Need info on tickets? As always, it's all over on the incredibly cryptically-titled Tickets page of our site. SUPPLIER GUIDELINES In order for an epehemeral city to rise from the dust and be built by you, a lot of materials and supplies have to be moved - and often with large projects, this means suppliers make deliveries to Tankwa Town. You know, like a real city. As time has passed (and some projects have become quite large), so we've had to develop a system that prevents trucks cruising around the city looking for folks that have secured a delivery of wood, water, tents or all the other things that make camps and artworks possible. That's now been nailed down as a set of Supplier Guidelines which are particularly relevant if you plan on bringing a large camp or project to the event - and those have been freshly published: Read all about those right here.  (thanks to Jonx Pillemer for this shot too)
JOIN THE ORANGE! People often remark that there are no fights in Tankwa Town, and it's something that we as a community can be rightly proud of. But there's a reason: not only are you all a rather well-adjusted bunch of nuts, but there's also a corps of community mediators who walk the dust every year and help people to avoid danger, and generally get along. They're our Rangers, and they're a noble bunch of level-headed folks. But here's the thing: as our city has grown (we'll be 13 000 this year), so the need for more Rangers has grown. To meet this need, we're calling out, we're hollering from the rooftops - hell, we're even sending smoke signals far and wide - for all interested parties to join the Orange. If you're good with people, and mediation, please consider stepping up and attending one of the many training dates coming up. The next one is this Saturday in Cape Town - biut if you're elsewhere in teh country, don't fret - we're coming to you too, soon. Check out the Ranger Training date info for this Saturday here - and keep an eye out on our channels for future dates in your area. Thanks to all who've stepped up so far! 
DATA, GLORIOUS DATA Who are we? Where do we come from? When do we arrive, and how many of us are there? The answers to these and many other questions can now be revealed, thanks to the power of 21st-Century supercomputing - and a nifty Stats page put together by Alastair Mason, one of our tech geniuses. Interested in checking out stats? Behold the glorious data: new.afrikaburn.com/stats _________________________________________________________________________________
 HACKATHON #2, APP & MESH NETWORK MEET: SAT 21 JAN Talking of data, and code, and all things tech - they're at it again! Yep: they're our tech crew & volunteers, and this very Saturday they'll be tackling some juicy chunks of code, as well as stuff like mesh networks and generally tinkering with the mysteries of helpful machines and thge languages they speak. 'Mesh network?', you say? Uhuh - we're taking a shot at that this year (but no, you won't be able to log into wifi and Instaspam the planet with your Tankwatonian selfies). Keen to join 'em? Grand - the Hackathon kicks off at 11am this Saturday at our HQ in Obs, Cape Town, and is followed by a discussion around the AfrikaBurn app, and then a mesh network meeting: Hackathon Facebook event page App Discussion Facebook event page Mesh Network Meeting event page
POSITION VACANT: ASSISTANT AIRPORT MANAGER
CALLOUTS
"We have an exhibition coming up at Youngblood Gallery that kicks off on First Thursdays 2nd of Feb and goes on for the duration of February. How exciting! But right now, to make our project happen, we're looking for five roles to be filled that are half-time/full-time voluntary positions:
- Communications person, actively speaking to our volunteers and coordinating with them to confirm sign ups and their journey into the desert.
- Campaign manager, Kickstarter - we would love to give one of you this responsibility!
- Project manager, step up with Nix and Agust to oversee all tasks
- Logistics manager, sourcing materials and oversee transport logistics
- Home Camp manager, organic food logistics and camp setup for maximised community comfort
And then we have three roles that we need a lot of:
- Ambassadors, spread the word “Have you heard about the tree?”, instigate curiosity and intrigue
- Design crew, We need you NOW and for a month ahead! We need to design the tree in big and small detail based on the myths and legends of Baobabs and the Tree of life! Please contact nix@nixdavies.com
- Build crew, we still need more builders, riggers, healers and all-arounders.
Wanna help on build weekends (in Citrusdal or the desert)? Sign up here.
Wanna be on the build crew? Please sign up here.
Any inquiries please contact agust@kaospilot.dk
Design and exhibition contact nix@nixdavies.com "
Word from the Wild Ass team:
"The Wild Ass Saloon was a hit at Trickster, with an authentic saloon full of cowboys, saloon girls and the whole shebang - a small smokey saloon with a dodgy game of blackjack being played until late in the night; dimly lit with gas lanterns and whisky shots flowing; a bean stew on the fire… We return for the theme Play, and we need more cowboys and Saloon girls to join our posse. If you're looking to participate and need a camp to join please contact us. It's not hard work, hanging around playing cards, and you can add your creative bit if it fits in. We want to extend the saloon to include a drybar - a place to chill on the Binnekring, and your suggestions welcome. This in an interactive theme camp that needs a few people running it at a time. We are also dreaming of building a stage coach art car….
Looking forward to hearing from you, Nikki and James. nikkibritz@hotmail.com "
GREASEMONKEYS: TOOL CALL The Greasemonkeys say "We're a camp of enthusiastic burn mechanics, and are looking to beef up our tool collection as many of our precious tools have gone walkabout at the burn. If you have any old or unwanted tools, consider donating them to a good cause. We are looking for any tools which are in good working order, that could help us fix vehicles or bicycles. We always need more of the essentials, common spanners and sockets (10, 13, 15, 17), allen keys, screwdrivers and pliers but any of the more “exotic” tools would be greatly appreciated as well. Donations can be dropped off at Stoke Suspension Works, Cnr of Pickwick Rd and Micawber Rd, Salt River, during office hours or Saturday mornings. Or we can collect. Contact infernalgreasemonkeys@gmail.
(romantic sunset shot of the Lobo crew at work, by Christiaan Barnard. Sharp, Chris!) LOBO HOWLS FOR CREW From monkeys to wolves, it takes a whole menagerie to make Tankwa Town happen. This call's from the posse that have created and gifted The Spirit Train to our citizens each year for the last couple years: "We're a 23-strong crew of skilled artists & tradesmen looking for some more crews (men or women) to join us – in particular SOUND ENGINEERS. We have some amazing people on-board and would like to invite a few more. PLEASE INBOX US with your skillset (if any), AB experience, email & cellphone details (https://www.facebook.com/ Anybody joining us will be guaranteed a comfortable camp - you will however need to join us for the complete 12 days we are in Tankwa ... but it's truly worth it!!
"Greetings fellow burners! In light of all the creative endeavours for Burn 2017, anyone interested in a rather HUGE amount (or even a little) of various beautiful hardwood off-cuts?? Send me an email at ftp@telkomsa.net (I'm in Meyerton, near Vereeniging, Gauteng)"
EVENTS
BURNER BAR: GARDEN ROUTE - SAT 21 JAN
Yoh, now that’s what we call a packed newsletter. But there you go, it’s a busy time of year. If you’re back on the pony at work, well done - it’s much the same here at our HQ, where action stations are being manned, womanned and even personned. No surprises, considering there are - holy shit - just 98 days until we all gather round the Clan once again. 98 days? Huh. Tempus fokken fugit… Onward!
Travis Lyle a.k.a Blitzvingers |
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