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.

The Biogeography of the Oceans — msamba

[..] So far in my studies of biogeography, we’ve mainly looked at how life distributes and structures itself on land. Today we’re changing that by taking a deep dive into the many similarities and differences between terrestrial and marine environments. … Continue reading →

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The Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous Peoples and Wildlife in Peril! – a series of short films by Barbara Crane Navarro – 4 – « Fire Sculpture Performance at the Mairie du 2ème, Paris, France » 4:18

« Fire Sculpture Performance at the Mairie du 2ème, Paris, France » alternates scenes from the « Fire Performance » burning of one of my totemic sculptures during the collective art exhibition at the Mairie de 2ème, Paris, France – in support of the Indigenous … Continue reading →

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Five Climate Questions for 2023 — Mother Jones

This piece was published originally by Capital & Main. All good stories start with a question. So here are five questions for journalists to consider as the record-breaking accumulation of greenhouse gases continues into the opening days of 2023.   1,607 more words Five Climate … Continue reading →

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The Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous Peoples and Wildlife in Peril! – a series of short films by Barbara Crane Navarro – 3 – « Washington – Amazon » 3:44

« Washington – Amazon » alternates scenes from two art installations of my paintings and totemic sculptures in Washington D.C. and Arlington, Virginia, USA, with the « Fire Performance » burning of one of my totemic sculptures in the Yanomami village of Arata-Teri in the … Continue reading →

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Fragmentação do território amazônico em ilhas prejudica interações vitais entre as espécies!

Raphael Alves / International Monetary Fund Flickr Fragmentos florestais provocados pela ação humana na Amazônia não conseguem manter as mesmas interações ecológicas das áreas de vegetação contínua. Ou seja, a biodiversidade dessas áreas isoladas não funciona da mesma maneira como … Continue reading →

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The Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous Peoples and Wildlife in Peril! – a series of short films by Barbara Crane Navarro – 2 – « The Fire Sculpture » 2:26

« The Fire Sculpture » alternates scenes of the « Fire Performance » burning of one of my totemic sculptures at Le Chaufferie in St. Maurice, France, with scenes of Yanomami daily life in their forest and village and the « Fire Performance » burning of … Continue reading →

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Pesquisadores descobrem população de onças-pintadas na Serra do Mar no Paraná!

Com a descoberta, a região se torna a maior área prioritária para a conservação da onça-pintada na Mata Atlântica no Brasil. No bioma, a espécie perdeu 85% do habitat; A pesquisa gerou registros fotográficos e em vídeos inéditos do felino na … Continue reading →

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The Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous Peoples and Wildlife in Peril! – a series of short films by Barbara Crane Navarro – 1 – « The Way of the Shaman » 2:40

« The Way of the Shaman » alternates scenes from an art installation of my paintings and totemic sculptures at the Eyedrum Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, with scenes of Yanomami shamanic initiation and daily life in the forest and the village. … Continue reading →

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Terra Indígena Pirititi, em Roraima, vai ter proteção até a conclusão da demarcação — Observatório dos Direitos Humanos dos Povos Indígenas Isolados e de Recente Contato

Garantia foi dada em acordo entre a Funai e o MPF e a restrição de uso da terra já foi publicada no Diário Oficial da União Um acordo judicial firmado entre o Ministério Público Federal (MPF) e a Fundação Nacional … Continue reading →

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Il mio piccolo film preferito! – A volte ci perdiamo i momenti migliori! NON PERDERE questo magico film di 38 secondi: “L’amica a sorpresa del ragazzo Yanomami nella giungla”!

Aiutare a proteggere foreste, fiumi, fauna selvatica e la vita degli Yanomami e di altri popoli Indigeni boicottando TUTTI i prodotti della deforestazione; oro, olio di palma, legni esotici, soia, manzo, ecc. ! Ecco il film di 38 secondi del … Continue reading →

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