Advocating African culture and its artistic influence

Working together to grow awareness and representation of African art, music and culture globally.

 
An art installation from Burning Man. It is a floating metallic ball, composed of lots of star shaped segments coloured orange, red and purple. There are black poles coming from the pole, whose tips are coloured purple, aqua green and orange. There is a crowd of people looking up at it as it floats in the night sky.

Introducing Project Aikido 

Project Aikido is a platform dedicated to African art and music development. Its mission is to bring African art and music to Burning Man and provide a platform for future African art development within the Burning Man community.

Working with The Sybarite, we aim to elevate many more African artists in this space to make the art world more diverse.

Project Aikido is now preparing to find their next artist, to propose a significant and interactive installation to be displayed at Burning Man 2024. 

How Project Aikido unearths artistic talent 

Making artwork for Burning Man is very challenging due to the difficulties inherent in creating anything in a harsh wilderness setting with unexpected weather conditions.

The objective of the project was to create a large scaled public artwork that showcased African talent in a compelling, interactive, thought provoking way, relevant to our current time.

Through 1-54 Art Fair, we invited African artists to submit a proposal that met our objective. After reviewing submissions the Sao Foundation and a selected committee decided a winner.

Our 2022 Winner

Usha Seejarim's 'Resurrection of the Clothes Peg'

At Burning Man 2002, we were proud to support Usha Seejarim’s debut at Burning Man 2022.  It was momentous as she made history by being the first African and also female to display artwork in the history of Burning Man.

The sculpture was located at the Esplanade, a key placement on the playa and received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the event's 100,000 attendees and and through social media platforms the art was able to be viewed by a global audience of millions.

A close up of the art installation by Usha Seejarim called 'Resurrection of the Clothes Peg'. It shows lots of bright, patterned and colourful metallic tubes set in a desert setting.

The Sybarite Art Club

Founded in 2014, The Sybarite is a two-fold platform serving globally-minded individuals with content, experiences, and luxury concierge services.

At the heart of the platform is The Sybarite’s Arts Club: a powerful network of artists, collectors, advisors, and influencers pioneering traditional art and NFTs, supporting those at the earlier stages of their journey.

 

Inside a section of the art installation by Usha Seejarim called 'Resurrection of the Clothes Peg'. It is the inside of a tube brightly coloured with reds, oranges and yellows.

Be a force behind the rising tide in African art

Project Aikido is poised to make waves on the global scene, and we're seeking visionary partners to share the journey. Join us, and let's rewrite the narrative of global art, together.  

Sign up using the form below to find out more on how you can support Project Aikido.  

An artists spinning around a giant sparkler in the darkness, with lots of red strobes of light coming from it.The sparker is giving off a ring effect as he moves it around above his head. The ring is golden in colour and looks very hot.

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