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.

GENOCIDE: Over 570 Yanomami children under the age of five have died in the past four years from preventable diseases which are directly linked to illegal gold mining!  The Brazil/Venezuela border has been dominated by illegal gold mining for decades and a substantial part of Yanomami blood gold transits through Venezuela and filters into the global gold supply chain, declared with false documents as “legally sourced” gold!

Posted on January 28, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

“More than a humanitarian crisis, what I saw in Roraima was a genocide. A premeditated crime against the Yanomami, committed by a government impervious to the suffering of the Brazilian people,” newly-elected President Lula said the day after visiting a … Continue reading →

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Genocídio Yanomami gera primeiro movimento humanitário de reconstrução do Brasil — SUMAÚMA

Posted on January 28, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Após 4 anos de destruição dos laços de comunidade e solidariedade pelo governo Bolsonaro, o colapso sanitário que já matou 570 crianças de menos de 5 anos na terra indígena começa a unir brasileiras e brasileiros em torno de uma … Continue reading →

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Human Rights Watch urge a Lula revertir “la destrucción desenfrenada” de la Amazonía! — Stigmatis News

Posted on January 28, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

El Gobierno de Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva necesita “implementar inmediatamente” un plan contra “la destrucción desenfrenada” de la Amazonía brasileña, tras cuatro años en los que Jair Bolsonaro debilitó “severamente” la fiscalización ambiental, […] Human Rights Watch urge a Lula … Continue reading →

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«I cercatori d’oro stanno distruggendo i nostri fiumi, la nostra foresta e nostri figli. La nostra aria non è più pulita, il nostro gioco sta scomparendo e la nostra gente piange e chiede acqua pulita. Vogliamo vivere, vogliamo riconquistare la nostra pace e il nostro territorio.»

Posted on January 27, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Sei tu? «I miei nonni pescavano in questo fiume per sfamare la comunità. Ora è pieno di contaminazione da fanghi, benzina, diesel e mercurio. I pesci stanno morendo e la nostra terra Yanomami sta morendo. Noi Yanomami stiamo soffrendo, non … Continue reading →

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Governo Bolsonaro diminuiu acompanhamento médico quando metade das crianças Yanomami estava desnutrida! — SUMAÚMA

Posted on January 27, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Dados obtidos com exclusividade por SUMAÚMA mostram que a redução começou no segundo ano da gestão, após o número de pequenos indígenas desnutridos bater recorde. A informação ajuda a explicar a morte de pelo menos 570 crianças com menos de … Continue reading →

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Yanomami health disaster prompts outrage as Lula vows to tackle crisis — Ned Hamson’s Second Line View of the News

Posted on January 27, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Source: Yanomami health disaster prompts outrage as Lula vows to tackle crisis Yanomami health disaster prompts outrage as Lula vows to tackle crisis — Ned Hamson’s Second Line View of the News

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«Los mineros de oro están destruyendo nuestros ríos, nuestro bosque y nuestros niños. Nuestro aire ya no es limpio, nuestro juego está desapareciendo y nuestra gente llora y llora por agua limpia. Queremos vivir, queremos recuperar nuestra paz y nuestro territorio.»

Posted on January 26, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

¿Este Eres tu? «Mis abuelos pescaban en este río para alimentar a la comunidad. Ahora todo es contaminado por lodos, gasolina, diesel y mercurio. Los peces están muriendo y nuestra tierra Yanomami está muriendo. Los Yanomami estamos sufriendo, no tenemos … Continue reading →

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Oil wells guzzle precious California water. Next door, residents can’t use the tap! — Stigmatis News

Posted on January 26, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

A town in the oil industry’s shadow grapples with health fears as the state fails to limit companies’ use of fresh water by Hilary Beaumont in Fuller Acres, California, with photographs by Pablo Unzueta Towering refineries and rusty pumpjacks greet visitors … Continue reading →

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I’ve got the WordPress Blues Again !!!

Posted on January 26, 2023 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

After a week of inconclusive daily communications with WordPress “Automattic”, I finally know what is going on after all the “we’re investigating this issue” responses… I have apparently infringed upon some bizarre, vague and arbitrary “rules of abuse” and they … Continue reading →

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«Os garimpeiros estão destruindo os nossos rios, nossa floresta e nossas crianças. Nosso ar não é mais puro, nossas caças desapareçam e nosso povo chora e clama por água limpa. Queremos viver, queremos nossa paz de volta e nosso Território.»

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

É você? «Meus avós pescavam neste rio para alimentar a comunidade. Agora é tudo contaminação por lodo, gasolina, diesel e mercúrio. Os peixes estão morrendo e nossa terra Yanomami está morrendo. Nós Yanomami estamos sofrendo, não temos paz. Os garimpeiros … Continue reading →

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