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 Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous Peoples and Wildlife in Peril! – a series of short films by Barbara Crane Navarro – 6 – « Totemic Sculptures – Grace Teshima Gallery Exhibit » 4:04

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

In « Totemic Sculptures – Grace Teshima Gallery Exhibit » textured paintings plus two totemic sculptures, one in canvas and one in metal, alternate with scenes of Yanomami life in the Amazon rainforest on a small screen. The elements of the two … Continue reading →

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Academia Brasileira de Ciências apresenta propostas para reduzir contaminação por mercúrio, desafio nacional!

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Academia defende que garimpo ilegal seja banido no Brasil Garimpo ilegal faz subir a níveis perigosos os índices de mercúrio em peixes da Amazônia A Academia Brasileira de Ciências (ABC) define a contaminação por mercúrio como um desafio nacional que deve mobilizar … Continue reading →

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Newly Digitized Collection of Early 20th-Century Lakota Drawings Tells a Curious History — Lara Trace Hentz

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

The collection has been digitized by the Newberry Library, as part of its new open access policy. This slideshow requires JavaScript. In 1922, the Newberry Library acquired this collection of 160 drawings, attributed to “Sioux Indians” living in Fort Yates, … Continue reading →

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The Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous Peoples and Wildlife in Peril! – a series of short films by Barbara Crane Navarro – 5 – « The Forest is Burning – Art Installation » 5:22

Posted on October 19, 2022 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

« The Forest is Burning – Art Installation » alternates scenes from the « Fire Performance » burning of one of my totemic sculptures at the art space La Miroiterie in Paris with the « Fire Performance » burning of another of my totemic sculptures in … Continue reading →

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Desmatamento na Amazônia chega a quase 8 mil km² em 2022, pior acumulado em 15 anos — Ecoamazônia

Posted on October 19, 2022 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Apenas em agosto, foram derrubados 1.415 km². Além disso, a degradação florestal causada pela extração de madeira e pelas queimadas cresceu 54 vezes O desmatamento acumulado na Amazônia já chegou a quase 8 mil km² apenas em oito meses, sendo … Continue reading →

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Contes animés en langue indigène (et traduits) – Les Tepehua : Les taches de l’ocelot — Peuples autochtones d’Abya Yala — Tiny Life

Posted on October 19, 2022 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Publié le 26 Octobre 2020 Basé sur un conte de la tradition populaire Tepehua Langue : tepehua, Veracruz. Contes tepehua de Pisaflores, Ixhuatlán de Madero, Veracruz. Les taches de l’ocelot On raconte que dans la forêt, il existait un ocelot … 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

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

« 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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Indígenas isolados são vistos próximos a aldeia dos Marubo no Vale do Javari, no AM, e geram preocupação — Ecoamazônia

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

A presença e a aproximação inédita deles às margens do rio Ituí geram preocupação de indigenistas e agentes de saúde que temem pelo contato e possível conflito. 49 more words Indígenas isolados são vistos próximos a aldeia dos Marubo no Vale … Continue reading →

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1914: “The last of the ‘Indian potlatch’ “ — Chinook Jargon

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

From one of the great Canadian magazines, an impressively well reported account of the colonialist prohibition on potlatching. (Image credit: “Colonialism and the Potlatch Ban”, University of Alberta Law blog) This is an article still filled with prejudice and stereotyping of … 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

Posted on October 17, 2022 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

« 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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