The 10 Principles of Burning Man
THE 10 PRINCIPLES OF BURNING MAN
BURNING MAN CO-FOUNDER LARRY HARVEY WROTE THE 10 PRINCIPLES IN 2004 AS GUIDELINES FOR THE NEWLY-FORMED REGIONAL NETWORK. THEY WERE CRAFTED NOT AS A DICTATE OF HOW PEOPLE SHOULD BE AND ACT, BUT AS A REFLECTION OF THE COMMUNITY’S ETHOS AND CULTURE AS IT HAD ORGANICALLY DEVELOPED SINCE BURNING MAN’S INCEPTION. THE ACCOMPANYING SYMBOLS, DESIGNED AS A GIFT BY ARTIST WICK, ARE USED AROUND THE WORLD TO REPRESENT THE 10 PRINCIPLES.
RADICAL INCLUSION
Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.
GIFTING
Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value.
DECOMMODIFICATION
In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience.
RADICAL SELF-RELIANCE
Burning Man encourages the individual to discover, exercise and rely on their inner resources.
RADICAL SELF-EXPRESSION
Radical Self-expression arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.
COMMUNAL EFFORT
Our community values creative cooperation and collaboration. We strive to produce, promote, and protect social networks, public spaces, works of art, and methods of communication that support such interaction.
CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY
We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state and federal laws.
LEAVING NO TRACE
Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.
PARTICIPATION
Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart.
IMMEDIACY
Immediate experience is, in many ways, the most important touchstone of value in our culture. We seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and a recognition of our inner selves, the reality of those around us, participation in society, and contact with a natural world exceeding human powers. No idea can substitute for this experience.
BURNING MAN PROJECT PROGRAM AREAS
BURNING MAN PROJECT SUPPORTS LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN APPLYING
THE 10 PRINCIPLES THROUGH SIX INTERCONNECTED PROGRAM AREAS.
ARTS
The mission of Burning Man Arts is to change the paradigm of art from a commodified object to an interactive, participatory, shared experience of creative expression. Activities in the art program may include facilitating creative self-expression by encouraging people to integrate art with daily personal and public life in ways that are interactive, collaborative, and in support of social architecture.
EDUCATION
The mission of Burning Man Project’s Education Program is to develop spaces, convenings, summits, and retreats that facilitate knowledge sharing between members of the global Burning Man community. Whether in-person or virtual, the Education Program ensures the transmission of cultural knowledge, which includes everything from hands-on building and creation, to Burning Man philosophy and practices.
CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
Burning Man Project’s Civic Involvement Program will foster civic responsibility and citizen participation in pursuit of a civil society. Through interactive and collaborative methods, we will support a network that produces events and activities in urban, rural and digital communities. These events will encourage broad participation and engagement with city, state and federal agencies to permit interactive public art and creative self-expression.
PHILOSOPHICAL CENTER
The Philosophical Center will carry out scholarly research about, and prepare and publish materials that explain the 10 Principles, and how they have been and can be successfully and practically implemented in many fields of human endeavor. Through its activities, the Philosophical Center will promote innovation in art, science, play, gifting, interaction, collaboration, and related economic and policy issues.
CULTURE
Burning Man Project’s Culture Centers Program will establish and operate urban and rural cultural centers that incubate and showcase collaborative and interactive arts, culture, and community participation. These centers may be permanent or temporary, physical or virtual, and serve as platforms for cultural engagement, connection, and experimentation. As much as possible, they will be developed and operated using innovative technologies and renewable energy.
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
Burning Man Project’s Social Enterprise Program will collaborate with mission-allied organizations and projects that wish to collaborate for the public good by providing certifications, social and connective networks, fiscal sponsorship, shared support services, and mentoring. Through this approach Burning Man Project will foster collaborative consumption among mission-allied projects, reducing duplication and overhead costs and maximizing the resources that each may devote to its public benefit programs.
Read the full Program Area descriptions HERE >
