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.

White-Nosed Saki Chiropotes albinasus — Palm Oil Detectives

Posted on May 25, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Curious, social and beautiful White-Nosed Sakis live in the canopies of Brazilian Amazonia. They are vulnerable from human-related threats including palm oil, soy and meat deforestation, mining and human persecution.Their main threats are habitat loss to mining, logging, cattle farming, … Continue reading →

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Una fábula con un mensaje – « La Magia de la Amazonia Las aventuras de Namowë, un niño Yanomami » – ¡Para edades de 8 a 12 a 100 años! – escrito e ilustrado por Barbara Crane Navarro

Posted on May 24, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

« La Magia de la Amazonia nos lleva a un mundo que podría parecer fantástico, donde humanos, animales y plantas hablan entre sí, bromean y conspiran entre sí. Lo obvio es que los humanos no están por encima de otras criaturas. … Continue reading →

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Caecilians: secretive, strange and slithering underground dwellers in tropical rainforests! — Palm Oil Detectives

Posted on May 24, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

OK, Ok…I know this is quite a scary photo but hear me out. Caecilians are legless, eyeless creatures live secretive, strange lives underground and underwater. Not quite snakes, not quite worms and not quite amphibians either. Once you know more … Continue reading →

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Une fable avec un message: « La Magie de l’Amazonie, Les aventures de Namowë, un garçon Yanomami » – Pour les 8 à 12 à 100 ans! – écrit et illustré par Barbara Crane Navarro

Posted on May 23, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

« La Magie de l’Amazonie nous fait pénétrer dans un monde qui pourrait sembler fantastique, où les êtres humains, les animaux et les plantes se parlent, plaisantent, conspirent entre eux. La chose évidente est que les humains ne sont pas au-dessus … Continue reading →

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Amazon River Dolphin Inia geoffrensis — Palm Oil Detectives

Posted on May 23, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

The Amazon River dolphins, also known as the Boto Dolphins or Amazon Pink River Dolphins are playful, curious and intelligent mammals, the largest river dolphin species in the world. Known for their stunning pink coloured skin they are endangered due … Continue reading →

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A Fable with a Message –  « Amazon Rainforest Magic The adventures of Namowë, a Yanomami boy » – For ages 8 to 12 to 100!  – written and illustrated by Barbara Crane Navarro 

Posted on May 22, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

« Amazon Rainforest Magic presents a world that at first might seem whimsical, where people, animals, and plants joke, conspire, and argue with each other. The serious point is that humans are no more important than any of the other creatures … Continue reading →

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The right for nature to simply exist is clear – the movement to enshrine this into law is growing! — Palm Oil Detectives

Posted on May 22, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

The idea that nature — forests , rivers, mountains — could have rights, in the same way that human rights, or corporate rights exist has been building momentum.The dying days of 2022 saw a historic global agreement reached to try … Continue reading →

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Barbara Crane Navarro: Artist & Activist In Her Own Words!

Posted on May 21, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Barbara Crane Navarro is a French artist, writer, Indigenous and animal activist who lives near Paris. From 1968 to 1973 she studied at Rhode Island School of Design, then she went on to study at the San Francisco Art Institute … Continue reading →

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Slide Show 1:32 – 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.”                               

Posted on May 21, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

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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IL GENOCIDIO DEGLI YANOMAMI e la MORTE DELLA NATURA per la merce in oro e diamanti e L’ARTE DEL LAVAGGIO VERDE dei COMMERCIANTI D’ORO con le loro stesse parole… 2023

Posted on May 20, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Originally posted on Barbara Crane Navarro:
Il negozio Cartier vendono gioielli, orologi e accessori di lusso esclusivi in ​​oro e diamanti dal 1847 – foto: Cartier “Le cose vanno male dal 2015, quando il prezzo dell’oro ha iniziato a salire.…

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