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.

Deforestation: EU law bans goods linked to destruction of trees! — Stigmatis

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

By Antoinette Radford | BBC News The European Union has agreed a new law that would ban the import of products linked to deforestation. Household goods such as coffee, chocolate, and some furniture will have to pass strict checks to … Continue reading →

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Tout le monde vivant est interdépendant: une question & réponse avec l’artiste Barbara Crane Navarro — Open Americas

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

Barbara Crane Navarro est une artiste, auteur et activiste française qui vit actuellement près de Paris. Pendant 12 ans, elle a passé les mois d’hiver avec le peuple Yanomami au Venezuela et au Brésil, une expérience qui a inspiré sa … Continue reading →

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How animals perceive their environment — Conservation Sense and Nonsense

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

Ed Yong introduces us to the topic of his book, An Immense World (1), by inviting us into an imaginary gymnasium populated by a menagerie of animals who perceive their environment in different ways because they have different sensory mechanisms.  … Continue reading →

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Nature has a lot to tell us, literally! — Darcy Hitchcock

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

Scientists are discovering that a lot of animals make a lot of different sounds, often outside our own hearing range. Nature has a lot to tell us, literally — Darcy Hitchcock

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Very Happy New Year to You All !!!

Posted on December 31, 2022 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Jardin des Plantes, Paris

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Remembering the year that was… — MARY CALVO

Posted on December 31, 2022 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Originally posted on Back Yard Biology: This year was an amazing time of one adventure after another…as we made up for the Covid isolation period and two years of postponed trips. So many beautiful places, beautiful animals, beautiful landscapes, and … Continue reading →

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Happy New Year to all species! – Biodiversity deal at United Nations — Darcy Hitchcock

Posted on December 31, 2022 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Happy new year to all species! The UN biodiversity conference has resulted in meaningful agreements. You can blame Congress for why the US couldn’t be part of the negotiations or sign onto the agreement. Biodiversity deal at United Nations — Darcy … 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”!

Posted on December 30, 2022 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

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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Gaia Amazonas – La visión de mantener la conectividad de la Amazonía se fortalece con el apoyo de Francia — Ecoamazônia

Posted on December 30, 2022 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Montreal, diciembre de 2022. Durante la COP 15 de biodiversidad que se lleva a cabo hasta el 19 de diciembre en Montreal, Canadá, Francisco von Hildebrand, Presidente de la Fundación colombiana Gaia Amazonas y Rémy Rioux, Director General de la … Continue reading →

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The why, what and where of the world’s black leopards! — Palm Oil Detectives

Posted on December 30, 2022 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Sam Williams, Durham University A black leopard was recently spotted […] The why, what and where of the world’s black leopards — Palm Oil Detectives

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