Ukrainian Artwork Damaged by Dust Storm at Burning Man Festival
Ferocious desert stormwinds have swept away a colossal Ukrainian artwork within hours of its installation at the annual Burning Man cultural festival in Nevada.
A visual metaphor for the impending threat of war, the 50-foot-tall (~15.2-meter-tall) inflatable “Black Cloud” was destroyed shortly after debuting at the Black Rock Desert event yesterday, August 24, on Ukraine’s Independence Day. The work consisted of 45 interconnected blow-up forms with flashing strobes and a continuous soundscape created from real audio of warfare in Ukraine.
General producer Vitaliy Deynega wrote on Facebook that although the installation was intended to withstand such weather conditions, it was torn apart in less than 15 minutes.
“It was a feeling I experienced only once before — in February 2022, when I woke up to explosions and sirens,” Deynega said in a statement shared with Hyperallergic.
The powerful dust storm, accompanied by 50 mph winds, has reportedly resulted in at least four minor injuries at Burning Man so far. It comes two years after torrential rainfall transformed the desert cultural festival into an enormous mud pit that stranded over 70,000 festival attendees in the temporary encampment. Hyperallergic has contacted Burning Man for comment.
Despite the damage, the team behind “Black Cloud” has confirmed that the installation is slated to be rebuilt for a European tour. Dates and locations have not yet been announced.
“Black Cloud” wasn’t the first Burning Man artwork to draw attention to the horrors of Russia’s war on Ukraine. At last year’s festival, Deynega and other Ukrainian artists unveiled “I’m Fine,” a more than 2,000-pound sculpture made of street signs from across the nation that were damaged by bullets and shrapnel.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion more than three years ago, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has documented 13,883 civilian deaths, including 726 children. Donald Trump’s recent meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have yet to yield a ceasefire or peace deal.
“Perhaps this storm has taken the threat with it,” said the “Black Cloud” building team in a statement. “A quiet hope on Ukraine’s Independence Day … drifting away on the desert winds.”