Episode 26: Building Temples & Art @ Blazing Swan (Kym, Nancy, Neesh, & Sara)

In this episode we invite a panel of blazers to talk about building temples and art at blazing swan. We reflect on the profound logistical and emotional journey of constructing the 2026 "Temple Weave". Despite the challenges of pre-fabricating the massive, feminine-inspired structure hours away from the event's Perth-based community, the project succeeded through meticulous team management, designated mentorship, and a conscious effort to prevent volunteer burnout. Beyond celebrating the temple's dramatic, wind-swept burn, the group provides critical insights into the broader evolution of the event's culture, addressing the necessity of early application timelines to foster large-scale creativity, the ongoing challenge of educating new attendees on core community principles amid record growth, and the community's pushback against AI-generated art applications to preserve authentic, hands-on skill.

Host: Stevan ‘Silent Disco’ Lay

Guests: Kym Ivanac, Nancy Maskall, Neesh Peacock, & Sara Males

Produced by PY Wong & Stevan Lay

Theme music by Will & Kate

Temple Weave | Artists: Kym Ivanac & Sara Males
Photo credit: Nancy Maskall

USEFUL Links:

Blazing Swan: https://blazingswan.com.au/

Bonza Community: https://bonzacommunity.org/

Modifyre: https://www.modifyre.org/

Sunburnt Arts: https://sunburntarts.org.au/

Underland: https://underland.au/

Common Arts Victoria: https://commonarts.org.au/

Peoples Art Collective Tasmania: https://auroraburn.org.au/

Kiwiburn: https://kiwiburn.org/

Burning Man Project: https://burningman.org/

The Blazing Swan Community Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/OfficialBlazingSwanCommunity

Disco Snails (Official Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAZBKlVSLkU

Timestamps:

[00:00:00] Intro theme

[00:00:30] Intro panel

[00:01:29] Burner origin stories

[00:08:22] Temple mentorship

[00:16:17] Blaze thoughts

[00:23:06] It takes a village theme

[00:29:34] Art panel talk

[00:37:00] Clip of art talk at blaze

[00:42:06] Temple talk

[01:01:15] Blaze support network

[01:06:30] Temple intentions

[01:17:11] Burner voice messages

[01:17:32] Disco snail

[01:27:14] Blaze talk

[01:32:57] Community learnings

[01:39:19] Burner voice messages

[01:39:36] AI in art

[01:46:09] Shoutouts and gratitude

[01:49:48] Burn calendar

[01:56:44] Outro theme

The information presented in the following audio program is for informational, educational, entertainment, and archival purposes only. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed on the Bonzaar Podcast are solely those of the hosts and the guests and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the entire burner community. Bonzaar Podcast is an independently-produced, volunteer-led, and community-funded project and is not associated or affiliated with the burning man organisation or it's world-wide subsidiaries.

This episode was recorded on 5 May, 2026