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After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, Burning Man is officially back. Starting on August 28, 2022, nearly 80,000 participants traveled to Black Rock City (near Reno) to build a temporary metropolis that boasted incredible artwork, enthusiastic costumes, and plenty of dust.
Every Burning Man has its own theme, and this year was Waking Dreams. Through it, the festival sought to explore the “transformative power of dreams, both literal and figurative, and celebrate the dreamers who channel this potent energy in eye-opening, often surrealistic, sometimes life-changing ways.”
The art at this year's Burning Man was reportedly smaller in size, which allowed attendees to interact with it on a more personal level. But there were still monumental pieces, including the installation BLACK! Asé. Created by Erin Douglas, it features the photographs of Black burners she had taken over the years attending Burning Man. The selected images were blown up to a 30-foot scale. “We don’t get people who look up to us, we don’t get to take up space, we don’t get to live in our power,” she said of the piece.
As its name suggests, Burning Man always concludes with a ritual burning. This year’s piece set ablaze was the Empyrean Temple designed by Laurence Renzo Verbeck and Sylvia Adrienne Lisse. Comprising an eight-point design, it looks like a compass when viewed from above. From ancient times to now, the star has represented, “hope, abundance, transformation, direction, justice, balance of duality, and harmony between the profound and mundane.”
In the years during Burning Man’s hiatus, the world has drastically changed. Everyone was affected in some way, and some previous attendees undoubtedly lost their lives during the pandemic. Although Empyrean Temple couldn’t change that, the burning of it was both a cathartic cleanse and a tribute.
Scroll down for some of our favorite photos from Burning Man 2022.
After a two-year hiatus, the Burning Man festival returned.
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This year's theme was Waking Dreams.
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Through it, the festival sought to explore the “transformative power of dreams, both literal and figurative, and celebrate the dreamers who channel this potent energy in eye-opening, often surrealistic, sometimes life-changing ways.”
View this post on Instagram
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The artwork included many smaller-scale pieces that allowed attendees to interact with it on a personal level.
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There were plenty of monumental sculptures, too, including the Empyrean Temple that burned at the end of the festival.
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