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 versus Indigenous peoples – III « They began greedily tearing minerals out of the earth. They built factories to melt them and make great quantities of merchandise … They soon forgot the beauty of the forest. »

« They made money proliferate everywhere.  By wanting to possess all this merchandise, they were seized by a limitless desire.  The white people started cutting all the trees, mistreating the land and soiling the water… » Yanomami shaman and spokesman Davi Kopenawa … Continue reading →

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Dia Internacional dos Povos Indígenas foca no papel da mulher em conhecimentos tradicionais — Ecoamazônia

Em mensagem de vídeo, secretário-geral da ONU afirma que as indígenas são guardiãs de conhecimentos, línguas e culturas, e que sem elas é impossível alcançar equidade e sustentabilidade. 43 more words Dia Internacional dos Povos Indígenas foca no papel da mulher … Continue reading →

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Reprogramming the Anthropocene: Patricia Piccinini’s ‘We Are Connected’ at ArtScience Museum — Bakchormeeboy

“It’s some kind of weird exhibition.” That’s the message I spy out of the corner of my eye that an older man, maybe in his 50s, types exasperatedly on his phone, before hitting send. He’s not entirely wrong – we’re … Continue reading →

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Deforestazione vs. Popoli Indigeni – II « Quello che i bianchi chiamano ‘la protezione della Natura’ siamo infatti noi, il popolo della foresta, coloro che dall’alba dei tempi abbiamo vissuto sotto la copertura dei suoi alberi »

« Siamo amici della foresta perché sappiamo che gli spiriti della foresta ne sono i veri proprietari. Eppure le menti dei cercatori d’oro e degli allevatori di bestiame sono quelle di esseri malvagi. I bianchi sanno solo come abusarne e rovinarlo. … Continue reading →

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Carbon commodification in the Peruvian Amazon: The Kichwa People’s Struggle Against Territorial and Climate Destruction! — Global Justice Ecology Project

Carbon commodification in the Peruvian Amazon: The Kichwa People’s Struggle Against Territorial and Climate Destruction Radical Ecological Democracy 1 Aug 2022 As the consequences of climate change continue to upend people’s lives all over the world, the feeble actions to … Continue reading →

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Todo dia é « Dia Internacional dos Povos Indígenas »! — Existe Guarani em São Paulo

O Dia Internacional dos Povos Indígenas é comemorado anualmente em 9 de agosto. O principal propósito desta data é conscientizar sobre a inclusão dos povos indígenas na sociedade, alertando sobre seus direitos, pois muitas vezes são marginalizados ou excluídos da cidadania. Outra finalidade é garantir … Continue reading →

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Deforestación vs. Pueblos Indígenas – II« Lo que los blancos llaman ‘la protección de la Naturaleza’ somos en realidad nosotros, la gente del bosque, los que hemos vivido al amparo de sus árboles desde el principio de los tiempos »

« Tenemos amistad por el bosque porque sabemos que los espíritus del bosque son los verdaderos dueños del mismo. Sin embargo, las mentes de los buscadores de oro y los ganaderos son seres malignos. Los blancos solo saben abusar de ella … Continue reading →

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Amazônia registra recorde de desmatamento no primeiro semestre de 2022! —

É a maior área desmatada nos primeiros seis meses do ano desde o início da série histórica: 3.988 km². Acumulado do primeiro semestre é o mais alto já registrado: 80% maior que a média do mesmo período desde 2018 O … Continue reading →

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Palm oil industry lobbying and greenwashing is like Big Tobacco – World Health Organisation (WHO) Bulletin — Palm Oil Detectives

What does the $60 billion USD palm oil industry have in common with Big Tobacco? A lot according to this report by the World Health Organisation. Palm oil industry lobbying tactics are used to influence research into the health impacts … Continue reading →

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Desmatamento contra Povos Indígenas – II « O que os brancos chamam de ‘proteção da natureza’ somos na verdade nós, o povo da floresta, aqueles que vivem sob a cobertura de suas árvores desde o início dos tempos »

« Temos amizade pela floresta porque sabemos que os espíritos da floresta são os verdadeiros donos dela. No entanto, as mentes dos garimpeiros e criadores de gado são de seres malignos. Os brancos só sabem abusar e estragar. Eles destroem tudo … Continue reading →

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