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.

¿Qué consideras « ofensivo »? – actualizado

«Los mineros de oro cavan como cerdos salvajes por todas partes. Los ríos del bosque pronto no serán más que remansos fangosos llenos de lodo, aceite de motor y basura. También lavan el polvo de oro en los ríos, mezclándolo … Continue reading →

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O que você considera « ofensivo »? – atualizado

« Os garimpeiros cavam em todos os lugares como porcos selvagens. Os rios da floresta logo serão nada mais do que remansos lamacentos cheios de lama, óleo de motor e lixo. Eles também lavam o pó de ouro em rios, misturando-o … Continue reading →

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Que considérez-vous comme «offensant»? – actualisé

«Les mineurs d’or creusent partout comme des cochons sauvages. Les rivières de la forêt ne seront bientôt plus que des remous fangeux, pleins de boue, d’huile à moteur et de déchets. Ils lavent également leur poudre d’or dans les ruisseaux, … Continue reading →

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What do YOU consider « offensive »? – updated

«  The gold miners dig everywhere like wild pigs. The forest’s rivers will soon be no more than miry backwaters, full of mud, motor oil, and trash.  They also wash their gold powder in the streams, mixing it with mercury. … Continue reading →

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Un appello alla natura e un messaggio di uno sciamano Yanomami

« Ho pensato che se i bianchi avessero potuto sentirmi, avrebbero convinto il governo a non lasciare che la foresta venisse distrutta … Ora, i cercatori d’oro puzzano della foresta con i fumi dei loro motori e i fumi dell’oro e … Continue reading →

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Un llamado a la naturaleza y un mensaje de un chamán Yanomami

« Pensé que si los blancos podían oírme, convencerían al gobierno de que no dejara que se destruyera el bosque… Ahora, los mineros de oro apestan a bosque con los humos de sus motores y los humos del oro y … Continue reading →

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Um apelo à natureza e uma mensagem de um xamã Yanomami

« Achei que se os brancos pudessem me ouvir, eles convenceriam o governo a não deixar a floresta ser destruída … Agora, os garimpeiros infestam a floresta com a fumaça de seus motores e a fumaça do ouro e do mercúrio … Continue reading →

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Un plaidoyer pour la Nature et un message d’un chaman Yanomami

« Je pensais que si les blancs pouvaient m’entendre, ils convaincraient le gouvernement de ne pas laisser la forêt être détruite… Maintenant, les mineurs d’or puent la forêt avec les fumées de leurs moteurs et les vapeurs de l’or et … Continue reading →

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A Plea for Nature and a message from a Yanomami shaman

« I thought that if the white people could hear me, they would convince the government to not let the forest be destroyed… Now the gold miners stink up the forest with the fumes from their motors and the vapors from … Continue reading →

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La Natura è il Vero Gioiello!

« L’oro cannibale … I nostri anziani non sapevano del denaro … Il denaro non ci protegge … non crea la nostra gioia. Per i bianchi è diverso. Questi bianchi sono mangiatori di terra coperti di fumi epidemici. Pensano di essere … Continue reading →

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