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.

Cartier’s use of images of Amazon tribe prompts Indigenous advocates to allege hypocrisy! – The Yanomami say: “How can a gold jewelry company, which we, the Yanomami people, are against, use the image of the Yanomami?” “When someone buys gold in a jewelry store, he is financing more invasions to destroy Indigenous lands!” “Anyone who buys a gold ring is part of the crime.”

This frame, which was removed from Cartier’s website, features an image of four Yanomami children playing in a lush green field while at the top of the page are links to purchase high-end jewelry. The French luxury jewelry brand said … Continue reading

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Pastoralists as vital allies in biodiversity conservation! — Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience – PASTRES

Pastoralists have often been pitted against conservationists. A colonial vision of ‘forests’ continues to enclose certain areas and exclude local pastoralists from accessing their habitats. Take the example of the Rabari pastoralists in India evicted from the Gir National Park … Continue reading

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Un appello per la natura e i popoli Indigeni! No alla Legge #2903 (Precedentemente n. 490)! …e un messaggio di uno sciamano Yanomami…

Un ragazzo Yanomami nella foresta, Alto Orinoco, Amazonas, Venezuela « Ho pensato che se i bianchi avessero potuto sentirmi, avrebbero convinto il governo a non lasciare che la foresta venisse distrutta … Ora, i cercatori d’oro puzzano della foresta con i … Continue reading

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Em Rondônia, passeio pelo Rio Madeira se torna patrimônio cultural e imaterial — Ecoamazônia

MANAUS – O famoso passeio de barco pelo Rio Madeira, na bacia Amazônia, partindo da capital de Rondônia, Porto Velho, e indo até a hidrelétrica Santo Antônio, foi tombado como patrimônio cultural e imaterial do município. 34 more words Em Rondônia, … Continue reading

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¡Abogacía por la naturaleza y los pueblos Indígenas! ¡No al proyecto de ley #2903 (Anteriormente #490)! … y un mensaje de un chamán Yanomami …

Hombres Yanomami trabajando en el bosque « Pensé que si los blancos podían oírme, convencerían al gobierno de que no dejara que se destruyera el bosque… Ahora, los mineros de oro apestan a bosque con los humos de sus motores … Continue reading

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Note de lecture : “Ethnographies des mondes à venir” (Philippe Descola & Alessandro Pignocchi) — Charybde 27 : le Blog

Un dialogue d’une extraordinaire vitalité entre le penseur de l’anthropologie de la nature et le chercheur aquarelliste des luttes sociales et écologiques contemporaines : par l’acuité de l’échange et aussi par le soulignement narquois et poétique jailli des dessins, un … Continue reading

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Um apelo à natureza e dos povos Indígenas! Não ao Projeto de Lei #2903 (Anteriormente #490)! … e uma mensagem de um xamã Yanomami …

Mãe Yanomami e filho com pintura facial Achiote, Amazonas, Venezuela – photo: Barbara Crane Navarro « Achei que se os brancos pudessem me ouvir, eles convenceriam o governo a não deixar a floresta ser destruída … Agora, os garimpeiros infestam a … Continue reading

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Brasil: El pueblo Nambikwara — Peuples autochtones d’Abya Yala

Publicado el 24 de julio de 2013 Vitor Nogueira. (1993 /1998) Pueblo indígena de Brasil que vive en los estados de Mato grosso (N-O) y Rondônia. Población: 2332 personas (2014) Lengua: Nambikwara (una colección de más de 40 lenguas) Foto: … Continue reading

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Plaidoyer pour la nature et les peuples autochtones ! Non au projet de loi #2903 (Anciennement #490) ! …et un message d’un chaman Yanomami…

Un homme Yanomami en route pour inviter un village voisin à un festin, Alto Orinoco, Amazonas, Venezuela « Je pensais que si les blancs pouvaient m’entendre, ils convaincraient le gouvernement de ne pas laisser la forêt être détruite… Maintenant, les … Continue reading

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PF prende garimpeiro ilegal em Terra Indígena Kayapó — Ecoamazônia

São Felix do Xingu/PA – A Polícia Federal prendeu uma pessoa em flagrante e apreendeu escavadeira hidráulica, mercúrio, arma, munições, uma camionete e uma moto, no sábado (17/12). 38 more words PF prende garimpeiro ilegal em Terra Indígena Kayapó — Ecoamazônia

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