Project Aikido
“Where do we come from, and where are we going
— together?”
A curatorial platform bringing African art and music to Burning Man.
The work reclaims symbolic and architectural language — forms historically shaped through exploitation — and transforms them into structures of dignity, continuity, and cultural memory.
It does not look backward in mourning. It looks forward, with the past carried inside it. Our projects are not exhibitions. They are cultural moments — three installations across six years, one continuing mission.
Six years. Three installations. One continuing mission.
SCROLL → TO TRAVERSE THE CHAPTERS
The Mothership Connection
A WORK BY ZAK OVÉ · BLACK ROCK DESERT · 2026
A monumental public sculpture by British-Caribbean artist Zak Ové — visually arresting, culturally profound, designed to meet its audience in one of the most extraordinary environments on earth.
Standing nearly 30 feet tall, constructed from brightly colored stainless steel and built upward in distinct layers of form, pattern, and iconography. Each tier carries its own visual language — geometric, figurative, ceremonial — crowned with a monumental Mende headpiece, a reference to West African masquerade tradition.
The work reclaims symbolic and architectural language — forms historically shaped through exploitation — and transforms them into structures of dignity, continuity, and cultural memory.
“A mothership is origin and destination simultaneously — a place of belonging always in motion.”
While British-Caribbean multidisciplinary artist Zak Ové is new to BRC, he has the support of Project Aikido, an organization that brings African art and music to Burning Man.
Two minutes with the Mothership.
Filmed by Don Weerasirie. Zak Ové in conversation with the work — studio, street, and what the desert is going to do with it.
Each year, a temporary city rises
from the Nevada desert.
Black Rock City — built in seven days, dissolved in seven more. No permanent infrastructure. 70,000 people. Streets named for science fiction authors of the future.
The archive,
by chapter.
London. Workshops. Construction. The crane lift. The Globes at sunset. The studio shaping Mothership. CLICK ANY IMAGE.
Studio process. Crew on the playa. Sunsets that don't render right. Follow the build of Mothership Connection in real time.
Mothership Connection only exists
because people choose to believe in it.
Apply to enter the build.
If you have hands, eyes, or a vehicle — we have a workshop, a build site, and a city of 70,000 to greet. Crew applications open year-round; on-playa shifts are scheduled in late summer.
WRITE NANA → 02 SUPPORTKeep the signal alive.
Every contribution goes directly into the build, the installation, and the community programming on the playa. Help us carry this vision into the desert and expand a living platform for African art at Burning Man.
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