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.

A Classic Initiation Tale – The Amazon as Oz: « Amazon Rainforest Magic, The adventures of Namowë, a Yanomami boy » – For ages 8 to 12 to 100!  – written and illustrated by Barbara Crane Navarro – NOW ON KINDLE, TOO!

“From its opening pages, this engaging children’s book sets the scene of a world almost unimaginable in the 21st century, a lush, restive, tropical world alive with the spirits of animals and plants. It begins inside a Yanomami dwelling. A … Continue reading

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« Only the forest is a precious good! »

« But the white people are other people than us. Their thought remains constantly attached to their merchandise. They make it relentlessly and always desire new goods. They are already constantly killing each other for money in their cities and fighting … Continue reading

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« The only reason the forest does not yet turn to chaos is that a few great shamans are still making their powerful spirits dance to protect it! »

« The shaman’s xapiri spirits angrily crash the gold prospectors airplanes into the forest. It’s true! This happened when a very great shaman died of malaria propagated by gold miners. Several gold prospectors’ airplanes crashed in the treetops at that time. … Continue reading

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¿ARTISTA EN RESIDENCIA CON PUEBLOS INDIGENAS? Entrevista de Barbara Crane Navarro con Leslie Tate

Barbara Crane Navarro habla sobre la creación de arte mientras vivía con el pueblo Yanomami en la selva amazónica y quemaba sus esculturas para protestar contra la deforestación. Cita: “Existe una concepción occidental del arte y de los artistas que … Continue reading

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ARTISTE EN RÉSIDENCE CHEZ DES AUTOCHTONES ?                       Entretien de Barbara Crane Navarro avec Leslie Tate

Barbara Crane Navarro parle de la création artistique alors qu’elle vivait avec le peuple Yanomami dans la forêt amazonienne et de brûler ses sculptures pour protester contre la déforestation. citation : “Il existe une conception occidentale de l’art et des … Continue reading

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ARTIST IN RESIDENCE WITH INDIGENOUS PEOPLE? Barbara Crane Navarro interview with Leslie Tate

Barbara Crane Navarro talks about creating art while living with The Yanomami people in The Amazon Rainforest, and burning her totemic sculptures as a protest against deforestation. Quote: “There’s an occidental concept of art and artists that includes or excludes … Continue reading

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Barbara Crane Navarro: Artist & Activist In Her Own Words — Palm Oil Detectives

Bio: Barbara Crane Navarro 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 … Continue reading

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Did you know that gold kills Indigenous people and rare animals? Gold mining kills Indigenous peoples throughout the world like the Yanomami people of Brazil and Venezuela! – Palm Oil Detectives

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My Favorite Little Film! – Sometimes we miss the most beautiful moments – DON’T MISS THIS one! A magical 38-second film – “The Yanomami boy’s surprise friend in the jungle”!

Please help protect the forests, rivers, wildlife and the lives of the Yanomami and other Indigenous peoples by boycotting ALL products from deforestation; gold, palm oil, exotic wood, soy, beef, etc. Here’s the 38-second film of the Yanomami boy in … Continue reading

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Oro legale e oro illegale – Se la Barrick Gold Corporation oi cercatori d’oro stessero cercando l’oro nel tuo cortile e contaminassero la tua unica fonte d’acqua con cianuro o mercurio, saresti ancora decorato con gioielli, orologi e accessori d’oro?

Diritto alla vita invece dei profitti legali in oro! Più sai, meno l’oro brilla! Niente dice “ti amo” come… 20 tonnellate di rifiuti minerari?! Questa è la quantità di rifiuti di roccia estratti e scartati per produrre la quantità di … Continue reading

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