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.

Colonialismo do século 21 – implementado por corporações e ONGs? Cuja sobrevivência está em jogo aqui, Survival? A sobrevivência das florestas tropicais e dos povos indígenas ou da Cartier e outros na indústria de joias de ouro e diamantes de luxo?

Posted on September 11, 2020 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

“A tolice do homem aumentou o valor do ouro e da prata por causa de sua escassez; enquanto a natureza, como um pai amoroso, nos deu gratuitamente as melhores coisas, como ar, terra e água, mas escondeu de nós as … Continue reading →

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« Ces étrangers se sont précipités dans la forêt pour en arracher de l’or! »

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

« Nous, nous sommes différents. Nous n’avons jamais pensé à envoyer notre peuple sur la terre des Blancs pour tout détruire sans dire un mot! Les Blancs peuvent se trouver très intelligents, mais leur pensée reste fixée sur ces mauvaises … Continue reading →

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Colonialisme du 21e siècle – mis en œuvre par les corporations et les ONG? De qui est en jeu la survie ici, Survival? La survie des forêts tropicales et des peuples autochtones ou de Cartier et d’autres dans l’industrie de la joaillerie de luxe en or et diamant ?

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Originally posted on Barbara Crane Navarro:
https://barbara-navarro.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/aa-1-cartier-leopard-neon-5-1.jpg photo: publicité Cartier? https://barbara-navarro.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/aa-1-nat-geo-mining-5-1.jpeg photo:? site d’extraction d’or – Emiliano Mancuso / National Geographic? J’ai fait du bénévolat pour Survival France dans les années 90 et au début des années 2000 à des…

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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 »

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

« 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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21st Century Colonialism – implemented by corporations and NGOs? Whose Survival is at stake here, Survival? The survival of the rainforests and indigenous peoples or of Cartier and others in the luxury gold and diamond jewelry industry?

Posted on September 7, 2020 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

“Man’s folly hath enhanced the value of gold and silver because of their scarcity; whereas nature, like a kind parent, hath freely given us the best things, such as air, earth, and water, but hath hidden from us those which … Continue reading →

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Colonialisme du 21e siècle – mis en œuvre par les corporations et les ONG? De qui est en jeu la survie ici, Survival? La survie des forêts tropicales et des peuples autochtones ou de Cartier et d’autres dans l’industrie de la joaillerie de luxe en or et diamant?

Posted on September 6, 2020 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

“La folie de l’homme a augmenté la valeur de l’or et de l’argent à cause de leur rareté; tandis que la nature, comme un parent aimable, nous a donné librement les meilleures choses, comme l’air, la terre et l’eau, mais … Continue reading →

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« Only the forest is a precious good »

Posted on September 6, 2020 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

« 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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« In the absence of the sacred, everything is for sale. »

Posted on September 5, 2020 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

« The environnent isn’t over here. The environment isn’t over there. You are the environment. What you people call your natural resources our people call our relatives. » – Oren Lyons, Seneca Nation We need to worship the forest,  rivers, the … Continue reading →

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MOSTRA “Pas de Cartier” ! – Lo YANOMAMI e gli ALBERI – Miniere d’oro e oggetti d’oro di lusso – COVID-19 propagato dai minatori d’oro… dal 3 settembre al 4 ottobre 2020

Posted on September 4, 2020 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Originally posted on Barbara Crane Navarro:
https://barbara-navarro.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/1-art-article-4.jpg “Pas de Cartier“!fotomontaggioBarbara Crane Navarro In che modo Cartier concilia il suo modello di business dell’estrazione dell’oro che distrugge gli alberi e degrada la vita degli indigeni con le sue mostre d’arte “Noi…

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EXPOSICIÓN “Pas de Cartier” ! – YANOMAMI y ÁRVORES – Minas de oro y objetos de oro de lujo – COVID-19 propagado por mineros de oro … 3 de septiembre al 4 de octubre de 2020

Posted on September 3, 2020 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Originally posted on Barbara Crane Navarro:
https://barbara-navarro.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/1-art-article-3.jpg “Pas de Cartier“montaje de fotosBarbara Crane Navarro ¿Cómo concilia Cartier su modelo de negocio de minería de oro que destruye árboles y degrada la vida de los pueblos indígenas con sus exhibiciones de…

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