All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

196 activistas ambientales fueron asesinados en 2023 y suman más de 2000 desde 2012

Londres/Madrid (EFE).- Al menos 196 personas defensoras de la tierra y el medioambiente fueron asesinadas en el mundo a lo largo de 2023, aunque el …

196 activistas ambientales fueron asesinados en 2023 y suman más de 2000 desde 2012

The Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous Peoples and Wildlife in Peril! – a series of short films by Barbara Crane Navarro – 6 – « Totemic Sculptures – Grace Teshima Gallery Exhibit » 4:04 | Barbara Crane Navarro

Totemic Sculpture – canvas sky and cosmos

In « Totemic Sculptures – Grace Teshima Gallery Exhibit » textured paintings plus two totemic sculptures, one in canvas and one in metal, alternate with scenes of Yanomami life in the Amazon rainforest on a small screen.

Totemic Sculpture – canvas sky and cosmos

The elements of the two totemic sculptures: The circular shape made with branches represents the communal house of the Yanomami Indigenous people. The suspended bands represent shamanic energies that connect the Yanomami village to the sky, to heaven, to the cosmos. The sculptures are totemic because the power and ritual element of the totem in Indigenous cultures of the Americas is such a vital source.

The inspiration for my work comes from winters I’ve spent with Yanomami communities in the Amazon Rainforest. As of 2005, it’s been 9 years now, and I’m going back for the 10th year this coming winter. At first, I painted women in their hamacs with their babies, hunters with their arrows. Later, I became interested in the practices of the shaman.  The village depends on them for healing and protection, for so many things, and I became fascinated by them and their work. My artwork became more and more inspired by and infused with shamanic energies which is what you see here at Grace’s.

Totemic sculpture – metal – hanging bands and branches in metal (detail)

The elements of the two totemic sculptures: The circular shape made with branches represents the communal house of the Yanomami Indigenous people. The suspended bands represent shamanic energies that connect the Yanomami village to the sky, to heaven, to the cosmos. The sculptures are totemic because the power and ritual element of the totem in Indigenous cultures of the Americas is such a vital source.

Totemic sculpture – metal – hanging bands and branches in metal

The inspiration for my work comes from winters I’ve spent with Yanomami communities in the Amazon Rainforest. As of 2005, it’s been 9 years now, and I’m going back for the 10th year this coming winter.
At first, I painted women in their hamacs with their babies and hunters with their arrows. Later, I became interested in the practices of the shaman. The village depends on them for healing and protection, for so many things, and I became fascinated by them and their work. My artwork became more and more inspired by and infused with shamanic energies which is what you see here at Grace’s.

As everyone is aware, Indigenous peoples’ existence is threatened by logging operations, by gold miners and other extractive industries – by so many rapacious outsiders, that the purpose of my work now is to speak out against the damage that’s being caused to the Rainforest constantly and the deterioration of the way of life of the Indigenous inhabitants. Little by little, my work is evolving into a dialog with the Rainforest .

Actually, It’s my way of maintaining a connexion with the Yanomami and thanking them for receiving me the way that they have over the years and welcoming me into their world. And the idea of bringing their world to my world and speaking out in occidental countries about about efforts that need to be made to help them to participe in the 21st century in their own way, preserving the environment as they always have, feels very important to me. The effort that all of us in the occident must make in order to help Indigenous peoples and preserve what remains of Nature is to boycott all products of deforestation; gold, palm oil, exotic wood, soy, beef, gemstones, etc.!

Totemic sculpture – metal – bands and branches in metal (detail)

Film: Jerome Bouyer
Editing: Samantha Halfon Music: Lifelong – Anno Domini Beats

Here’s the film:

The « Caution » tape between two tree stumps at the film’s end expresses the urgency of protecting these forests and the lives of Indigenous communities and, ultimately, all of humanity.
We all depend on Nature for our survival.

The End

For more information about the Rainforest Art Project, please see my website here:

http://www.barbaranavarro.com

And here in a blog by Palm Oil Detectives:

 

https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/114089794/posts/3744071063

Thank you so much for appreciating my work!
Barbara

Source: The Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous Peoples and Wildlife in Peril! – a series of short films by Barbara Crane Navarro – 6 – « Totemic Sculptures – Grace Teshima Gallery Exhibit » 4:04 | Barbara Crane Navarro

Brazil – Investor Alert: Belo Sun Discloses Misleading Information to Investors Regarding Controversial Canadian Gold Mining Project in Brazilian Amazon! | Barbara Crane Navarro

Source: Amazon Watch – Earthworks – Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) – Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA) – International Rivers – MiningWatch Canada – Movimento Xingu Vivo para Sempre ≠ Rede Xingu+ (Ottawa) In a letter of concern to the Ontario Securities Commission, an international coalition of civil society organizations calls […]

Brazil – Investor Alert: Belo Sun Discloses Misleading Information to Investors Regarding Controversial Gold Mining Project in Brazilian Amazon —

Source: Brazil – Investor Alert: Belo Sun Discloses Misleading Information to Investors Regarding Controversial Canadian Gold Mining Project in Brazilian Amazon! | Barbara Crane Navarro

Ein Dienstagslächeln / … A Tuesday smile – Stella, oh, Stella

Der heutige Film ist für mich ein richtiger feel-good-Film. Es geht natürlich nicht ganz ohne anfängliche Missverständnisse ab. 😉

… Today’s movie is a real feel good one for me. Some misunderstandings occur at the beginning though. 😉

Ich wünsche euch allen eine angenehme Woche!

… I wish you all a pleasant week!

Source: Ein Dienstagslächeln / … A Tuesday smile – Stella, oh, Stella

DeSantis’ Government Is Doing Everything It Can to Defeat an Abortion Rights Measure – Mother Jones

The Florida government seems to be doing everything it can—including potentially breaking the law—to prevent voters from approving an abortion rights ballot measure in November.

On Thursday, the state’s health department debuted a webpage spreading misinformation about Amendment 4, a ballot measure appearing in November seeking to override the state’s six-week abortion ban that the Florida Supreme Court approved in April. If it receives the required 60 percent of votes to pass, the amendment would guarantee the right to abortion before the point of so-called fetal viability, which is generally understood to be around 24 weeks gestation. But the state’s new webpage—which DeSantis has since defended as a “public service announcement”—attacks the initiative with a litany of false claims, including that it “threatens women’s safety,” would “eliminate parental consent” for minors seeking abortions, and could “lead to unregulated and unsafe abortions” by allowing people without healthcare expertise to perform the procedure.

Those claims, though, are easily debunked by taking a look at the actual text of the amendment, which explicitly states that a patient’s healthcare provider is responsible for determining when an abortion after viability is necessary to protect a patient’s health. It also says that passage of the amendment would not override the authority of the legislature to require that a minor’s parent or guardian is notified before they obtain an abortion.

But the state’s campaign against the amendment doesn’t stop there. On the same day of the site’s launch, the Tampa Bay Times reported that the Florida Department of State was looking for evidence of fraud in the more than 30,000 citizen signatures used to get the amendment on the November ballot. Two election supervisors told the paper that the move was “highly unusual” given that the signatures had already been approved by local supervisors. The Tampa Bay Times also reported Friday that police had visited the homes of at least two voters who had signed the petition supporting Amendment 4 seeking to verify their signatures.

Source: DeSantis’ Government Is Doing Everything It Can to Defeat an Abortion Rights Measure – Mother Jones

In young American activist’s West Bank death, a fear of impunity – Los Angeles Times

On Friday, in the scant shelter of a few gnarled olive trees near the Palestinian village of Beita, a first field outing became her last. As her companions on a rocky, arid hillside looked on in horror, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26 — a bubbly, black-haired recent graduate of the University of Washington — fell to the ground, mortally wounded by a bullet to the head.

On Friday, in the scant shelter of a few gnarled olive trees near the Palestinian village of Beita, a first field outing became her last. As her companions on a rocky, arid hillside looked on in horror, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26 — a bubbly, black-haired recent graduate of the University of Washington — fell to the ground, mortally wounded by a bullet to the head.

Source: In young American activist’s West Bank death, a fear of impunity – Los Angeles Times