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.

AMÉRICA LATINA: CONQUISTA y COLONIZACIÓN — Revista Umbrales Uruguay — mimismo

Posted on October 14, 2021 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Una ocupación que mató a 60 millones de americanos en poco más de un siglo. El sacerdote español Fernando Bermudez Lopez ha estado 30 años misionero en Guatemala y México y es profesor universitario de Historia de la Iglesia en … Continue reading →

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O Dia dos Povos Indígenas é um feriado celebrado nos países colonizados para homenagear os povos indígenas e comemorar suas histórias e culturas – enquanto governos e empresas continuam a pilhar, saquear e roubar territórios indígenas!

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Nos Estados Unidos, o Dia dos Povos Indígenas evoluiu como uma alternativa ao « dia da invasão » – o Dia de Colombo – que celebrava a chegada de Cristóvão Colombo ao Novo Mundo em 12 de outubro de 1492 e o … Continue reading →

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Anacaona and the Day of Indigenous Resistance  — Unwrapping Development

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Today, October 12, is the Day of Indigenous Resistance, at least in Venezuela and in the hearts of millions of people in other lands. In Costa Rica, it’s the Día de las Culturas. But in many places, it’s still called … Continue reading →

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S4.E1 – This Land Is Their Land — The Jilted Indian Podcast

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Happy Indigenous People’s Day! The Jilted Indians are back for season FOUR with an episode to signal boost issues being faced by indigenous communities. We talk history, current events, and allyship. We also want to hip you to some amazing … Continue reading →

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La Journée des peuples autochtones est une fête célébrée dans les pays colonisés pour honorer les peuples autochtones et commémorer leurs histoires et leurs cultures – tandis que les gouvernements et les entreprises continuent de piller et et voler les territoires autochtones !

Posted on October 12, 2021 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Aux États-Unis, la Journée des peuples autochtones a évolué comme une alternative à « la jour d’invasion » – Columbus Day – qui célébrait l’arrivée de Christophe Colomb dans le Nouveau Monde le 12 octobre 1492 et le début de la … Continue reading →

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Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2021 — All That Philly Jazz

Posted on October 12, 2021 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

The recently released National Monument Audit produced by Monument Lab found that only Abraham Lincoln (193) and George Washington (171) have more public statues than Christopher Columbus (149). At the height of the George Floyd protests, calls grew louder for … Continue reading →

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Completing a circle — Ned Hamson’s Second Line View of the News

Posted on October 12, 2021 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Originally posted on LANDBACK Friends: I first learned about the Wet’suwet’en peoples in British Columbia when I saw this YouTube video, Coastal Gaslink Evicted from Unist’ot’en Territory, January 5, 2020. Having worked so hard to protect water from the Keystone … Continue reading →

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Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a holiday celebrated in colonized countries to honor Native peoples and commemorate their histories and cultures – while governments and corporations continue to pillage and loot indigenous territories!

Posted on October 11, 2021 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

In the U.S., Indigenous Peoples’ Day evolved as an alternative to « Invasion Day » – Columbus Day – which celebrated Columbus’ arrival in the New World on October 12th 1492 and the beginning of the colonization of North America.  Native Americans … Continue reading →

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Facebook plans to (finally!) act on illegal sales of Amazon rainforest! This outrageous and abusive practice has been going on for months!

Posted on October 11, 2021 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Facebook to act on illegal sale of Amazon rainforest – BBC News https://ift.tt/3DnoNFs Facebook to act on illegal sale of Amazon rainforest  BBC News Superforest via “deforestation” – Google News https://ift.tt/2tI2HiE Facebook to act on illegal sale of Amazon rainforest – BBC … Continue reading →

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Wet’suwet’en struggle continues — Ned Hamson’s Second Line View of the News

Posted on October 11, 2021 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Originally posted on LANDBACK Friends: It is tragic that at the same time the concepts of #LANDBACK are being embraced, resource extractive companies continue to take land, without free and prior consent. And it is ironic that this conflict is … Continue reading →

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