bring PādaP'goda to life

We need your help to bring PādaP'goda to Burning Man!

PādaP'goda is a sustainable kinetic pagoda that celebrates AAPI heritage and explores the interconnections between people from all walks of life. Inspired by the pagodas common throughout Asia, this installation celebrates pan-Asian heritage and empowers our collective healing.

We have a short time frame to raise the funds needed to bring this project to completion, so we turn to our friends, neighbors and community for support.

The name of our project is a play on Patītyasamutpāda–a Buddhist belief that all things coexist, and to escape suffering is an interconnected experience. PādaP’goda is a multi-tiered standing pagoda made from reclaimed materials and serves multiple purposes: an arena for play and collaboration; an allegory for climbing the social ladder; a form of Asian representation in the community; and an opportunity to build interconnection. As you explore the bamboo structure, you'll find stillness at the center of the piece, rooted in your own values and unswayed by external influences.

According to the Black Rock City Census, Asians make up a small percentage of attendants, making up just about 5% of the Burning Man population from 2013 to 2019 (2019 being the most recently released poll). source: http://blackrockcitycensus.org/sociodemo.html#ethnicity

Through the process of building this piece together and erecting it at Burning Man 2023, we hope PādaP’goda could offer more Asian representation and an opportunity to build interconnection with the broader Burning Man community.

In March 2023, PādaP’goda was awarded an Honoraria approval for construction and display in Black Rock City. We were fortunate enough to receive a modest grant from the Burning Man Organization to help us get started on this project. However, we are asking for support from our friends, family and the community to offset the excess costs of the grant.

Our team is currently bringing this project to life in the city of San Francisco, California. From there, the pagoda will then be disassembled, transferred to deep playa in Black Rock City, Nevada, then reassembled in time for Burning Man 2023.

Any donations received will go towards the following:

Please help us bring this project to life!!!

About the team:

Lead artist

Dawn is a queer first-generation immigrant born in Guangzhou, and raised in Vancouver BC and the Bay Area. They have been a part of many projects on the playa, including the Circadian Rhythm, the Siśya, and Sea of Dreams and 5 previous burns. Previously they created the 'Rocker of Abundance,' a 8'x5'x2' kinetic installation for Metamorphosis in 2019 to celebrate AAPI tradition and conscious conversations. They delight in practices that deepen and share their hybrid heritage and culture with the community.

www.dawnjian.com

You can follow our progress here:

https://www.instagram.com/padapagoda/

Thank you for your support! We could not do this without you!