Biographical Overview & Key Facts

Subject:

Burning Man

Role / Field:

Annual large-scale desert event celebrating art, community, and self-expression.

Database Source:

2Day Chrono-Wiki & Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Origins & Early Life

Burning Man is a week-long large-scale desert event focused on "community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance" held annually in the Western United States. The event's name comes from its ceremony on the second to last night of the event: the symbolic burning of a large wooden effigy, built every year for the event and referred to as the Man, the Saturday evening before Labor Day. Since 1990, the event has been at Black Rock City in northwestern Nevada, a temporary city erected in the Black Rock Desert about 100 miles (160 km) north-northeast of Reno. According to Burning Man co-founder Larry Harvey in 2004, the event is guided by ten stated principles: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, and immediacy.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Burning Man features no headliners or scheduled performers; participants create all the art, activities, and events. Artwork includes experimental and interactive sculptures, buildings, performances, and art cars, among other media. These contributions are inspired by a theme chosen annually by the Burning Man Project. NPR said of Burning Man in 2019...

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• A. J. P. Taylor — Historical peer (Died in 1990) (1990): Influential English historian specializing in 19th and 20th-century European diplomacy.
• Aaron Copland — Historical peer (Died in 1990) (1990): Pioneering American composer, conductor, and critic, known as the "Dean of American Music".
• A. A. K. Niazi — Historical peer (Died in 2004) (2004): Pakistani general who commanded Eastern Command during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
• Alicia Markova — Historical peer (Died in 2004) (2004): Pioneering British ballerina, choreographer, and founder of major ballet institutions.
• Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi — Historical peer (Died in 2019) (2019): Iraqi militant leader and founder of the Islamic State (IS)
• Agnès Varda — Historical peer (Died in 2019) (2019): Pioneering French filmmaker, artist, and documentarian celebrated for her unique vision.

Frequently Asked Questions about Burning Man