A city outside
the laws of
any nation
For a time it was the freest place on earth. We keep a small version of the arrangement in the dust.
Tangier was an international territory from 1912 to 1956, though it took until 1923 for the European powers to formally agree on a self-governed neutral zone. The port mattered too much for any one nation to hold it, so they settled on shared governance. The result was a city that belonged to no one, and therefore to everyone.
That arrangement drew writers, artists, and musicians. William Burroughs wrote Naked Lunch there. Paul Bowles never left. Allen Ginsberg passed through.
Its tolerance also made it a haven for gay men at a time when very few places on earth offered the same. In Tangier you could be anyone. That was the point.
We recreate the atmosphere of a café hidden away in Tangier, because that theme mirrors Burning Man itself: a place of tolerance, diversity, and artistic expression. It is said about Tangier that you can be anyone there. That is what we offer on the playa.
