Author Archives: Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

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.

Hé, Survival, de quel côté es-tu ? – Du côté des peuples autochtones ou de l’industrie de l’or ? – J’aimerais souligner que le n° 5 de votre “plan en six points” aide UNIQUEMENT l’industrie de l’or !

Posted on July 23, 2024 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Barrick Gold Corporation : L’extraction légale de l’or détruit les forêts et contamine les sources d’eau dans le monde ! Une fosse à ciel ouvert à la mine d’or Veladero de Barrick Gold Corp. dans la province argentine de San Juan. La … Continue reading →

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Changing the Way We See Native Americans – 500 NATIONS — Lara Trace Hentz

Posted on July 23, 2024 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Changing the Way We See Native Americans – 500 NATIONS | 500 NATIONS. By Lara/Trace This talk was given at a TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. In 2013 Matika Wilbur (story/project link) took on a project … Continue reading →

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Hey, Survival, Which side are you on? – The side of Indigenous Peoples or the Gold Industry? – I’d like to point out that #5 of your “Six Point Plan” helps ONLY the Gold Industry!

Posted on July 22, 2024 by Barbara Crane Navarro - Rainforest Art Project

Barrick Gold Corporation: Legal gold mining destroys forests and contaminates water sources globally! An open pit at Barrick Gold Corp.’s Veladero gold mine in Argentina’s San Juan province. The mine has estimated reserves of 10 million oz of gold. – … Continue reading →