Author Archives: Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

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About Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

I'm a French artist living near Paris. From 1968 to 1973 I studied at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island, then at the San Francisco Art Institute in San Francisco, California, for my BFA. My work for many decades has been informed and inspired by time spent with indigenous communities. Various study trips devoted to the exploration of techniques and natural pigments took me originally to the Dogon of Mali, West Africa, and subsequently to Yanomami communities in Venezuela and Brazil. Over many years, during the winters, I studied the techniques of traditional Bogolan painting. Hand woven fabric is dyed with boiled bark from the Wolo tree or crushed leaves from other trees, then painted with mud from the Niger river which oxidizes in contact with the dye. Through the Dogon and the Yanomami, my interest in the multiplicity of techniques and supports for aesthetic expression influenced my artistic practice. The voyages to the Amazon Rainforest have informed several series of paintings created while living among the Yanomami. The support used is roughly woven canvas prepared with acrylic medium then textured with a mixture of sand from the river bank and lava. This supple canvas is then rolled and transported on expeditions into the forest. They are then painted using a mixture of acrylic colors and Achiote and Genipap, the vegetal pigments used by the Yanomami for their ritual body paintings and on practical and shamanic implements. My concern for the ongoing devastation of the Amazon Rainforest has inspired my films and installation projects. Since 2005, I've created a perfomance and film project - Fire Sculpture - to bring urgent attention to Rainforest issues. To protest against the continuing destruction, I've publicly set fire to my totemic sculptures. These burning sculptures symbolize the degradation of nature and the annihilation of indigenous cultures that depend on the forest for their survival.

I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas — UAlberta Sustain SU – Sustainability Blog

Posted on December 4, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Photo from https://www.walmart.com/ip/Christmas-Tree-and-Presents-Cardboard-Stand-Up/30823526 I am sure this photo looks quite familiar. How many times have you scene this screenshot, in your own home, your friends and grandparents homes, in ads on TV? Probably thousands of times, and I have to … Continue reading →

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Uma mensagem para os tomadores de decisão da COP28: « A terra não é do homem, o homem é da terra. O homem não teceu a teia da vida, ele é apenas um fio. O que quer que ele faça com a teia da vida, ele faz isso consigo mesmo. » 

Posted on December 3, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

« Você está ensinando a seus filhos o que ensinamos a nossos filhos? Que a terra é nossa mãe? O que acontece com a terra acontece com todos os filhos da terra. Sabemos que a terra não pertence ao homem, o … Continue reading →

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Have yourself a sustainable little Christmas — JoannaESL

Posted on December 3, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

It’s the most wonderful time of the year once again. The time to be jolly, spend time with your loved ones, and of course, give presents. It’s so wonderful that most of the time we forget about the dark side … Continue reading →

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Un message pour les décideurs de la COP28 : «La terre n’appartient pas à l’homme, l’homme appartient à la terre. L’homme n’a pas tissé la toile de la vie, il n’en est qu’un fil. Quoi qu’il fasse à la toile de la vie, il le fait à lui-même.» 

Posted on December 2, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

« Enseignez-vous à vos enfants ce que nous avons enseigné à nos enfants ? Que la terre est notre mère ? Ce qui arrive à la terre arrive à tous les fils de la terre. Nous le savons, la terre n’appartient pas … Continue reading →

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The Christmas tree and climate change — Paul Noël

Posted on December 2, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

I posted this back in January years ago but it’s just as relevant today. How Christmas is celebrated has to be reevaluated in relation to our species connection and current abuse of nature. January 2021 I have written about this … Continue reading →

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A message for the deciders at the COP28: « The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. »

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

 « Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth. This we know – the earth does not belong to man, man … Continue reading →

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Calvert Nevaquaya on Comanche culture #NDN #ART — Lara Trace Hentz

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

“The thing I would like for [viewers] to see in our Comanche culture, through our art, is the beauty of our people—sometimes the spiritual side and the hardship—the good things our people had to offer,” said Calvert Nevaquaya. “Through a … Continue reading →

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IO SONO IL CLIMA – 2023 – NEMOURS – LA FORESTA STA BRUCIANDO! IL FIUME È SECCO!

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Mostra dal 25 novembre al 15 Dicembre 2023 Ho organizzato una mostra d’arte sul clima durante alla « Conferenza delle parti delle Nazioni Unite sui cambiamenti climatici » ogni anno dal 2015. « Stiamo perdendo la nostra guerra suicida contro la … Continue reading →

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Plastic pollution: Waste from across world found on remote British island! — Stigmatis

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

“Plastic is a great material, but it never goes away”, says Fiona Llewellyn Thousands of pieces of plastic debris from all over the world have washed up on a remote South Atlantic island, according to conservationists. By Nayana Mena | … Continue reading →

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!YO SOY EL CLIMA – 2023 – NEMOURS -¡EL BOSQUE ESTÁ ARDIENDO! ¡EL RÍO ESTÁ SECO!

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Exposición del 25 Noviembre al 15 Diciembre de 2023 He organizado una exposición de arte climático en la « Conferencia de las Partes de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático » todos los años desde 2015. « Estamos perdiendo nuestra … Continue reading →

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