Art for Earth
Today is Earth Day. In many places Earth Day became Earth Week.
Today and everyday, my contribution to Earth is not only to save water when I take a shower or brush my teeth, but also to promote artists who dedicate a large part of their art and life to the protection of our environment.
I want to introduce the awarded movie "Children of the Amazon" directed by Denise Zmekhol. I had the chance to meet this Brazilian Filmmaker and Photographer last year in Palo Alto, California, at the Open Studio that I curated for artist Pascal Rochette, himself engaged in the protection of the Atlantic Forest in the state of Bahia.
Their art have raised my awareness about the destruction of the rainforest and its protection as a universal cause.
Find below news about Earth Day and March for Science.
Children of the Amazon by Denise Zmekhol
Denise Zmekhol's masterpiece is the famous "Children of the Amazon" made in 2008. It's a very informative documentary about the people living in the rainforest - Indigenous and rubber tappers.
We learn about the history of several tribes and rubber tappers including environmental leader Chico Mendes, and their struggle to save their home forest-which affects us all.
This praised movie is well produced and directed, has a clear narrative and beautiful images of the forest and its people.
While she was making documentaries in Brazil, Denise Zmekhol discovered the life of children in the Amazon:
"What caught my eye were the children. Born to parents who had relied on the rainforest for their survival, these children were growing up surrounded by new ways—ways that were destroying the forest."
Chico Mendes' legacy
The movie also honors activist Chico Mendes. Chico Mendes was a rubber tapper who fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest, and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian peasants and indigenous peoples. He has pioneered the creation of "extractive reserves".
" At first I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees, then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest. Now I realize I am fighting for humanity." - Chico Mendes
Mendes became well known after his assassination in 1988. Two weeks earlier, Mendes had called Denise Zmekhol to ask her to film his funeral because he was receiving death threats from the cattle ranchers and knew they were going to kill him.
"I told him he was crazy, he wasn’t going to die, he had too much work to do. Two weeks later he was shot dead by a rancher. I was inspired to travel to the Amazon again—this time, to make a movie." - Denise Zmekhol.
Hence, Denise returned to the Amazon 15 years after meeting the children and Chico, and discovered drastic changes to the region, including widespread poverty and environmental destruction.
"While I expected change, I was not prepared for the extent of it. So much of the forest had been destroyed."
Iara Negarote was poisoned by a logger and died before arriving at the hospital. Mato Grosso, Brazil, 1990
"The goal of the film is more than to bear witness. I hope to offer insight to a distant and remote land while simultaneously drawing connections to our own lives. For we are—all of us— Children of the Amazon breathing the same air, walking the same planet, and in some sense that we have yet to understand, sharing the same fate." - Denise Zmekhol.
Learn more, Take action
Read this movie review on Huffingpost.
See more information and actions on Children of the Amazon's website and on earthday.com. A perfect tool for Educators of science, civic science, art, history...
Buy art from environmental artists:
Home, Hotels, Restaurants, Architects... Add a strong message to your decor.
Please contact me to see more and for any inquiries about Pascal Rochette and other French and Japanese artists and artisans from my selection.
Pascal Rochette, French Painter in Sao Paulo and Palo Alto, California
Yayoi Okada, Japanese photographer in Tokyo
Espace Krajcberg in Paris, another activist's legacy
You can now find the French version of Children of the Amazon in the Espace Kracjberg's videotheque in Paris, which I have remitted from Director Denise Zmekhol in January 2017.
In 1978 and 2013, Polish-born naturalized Brazilian Artist Frans Krajcberg along with Art Critic Pierre Restany and Painter Seep Baenderck, have established a Manifesto of Integral Naturalism for contemporary artists to be engaged in the nature. Espace Krajcberg is a gallery in Paris Montparnasse that bears his name and is dedicated to the artists engaged in the protection of the environment.
Find the Manifesto in French here, and the Portuguese version here.
What is Earth Day?
Earth Day is a global series of events occurring every year on April 22 across nearly 200 countries, aiming to encourage people to be more environmentally aware and friendly. The activist movement started on April 22, 1970, in Santa Barbara, California, after a massive oil spill in the sea. It's now coordinated by Earth Day Network across the world.
This year, millions of American scientists participated in the March for Science to protest against Trump's sciences and environment budget cuts and ideologies.
Thousands of people joined the March for Science in San Francisco on April 22, 2017. (Credit photo: Stanford University Researcher Miss Fu)
Trump budget cut hurts the environment
We had reasons to worry as soon as Donald Trump was elected as the President of the U.S. With Trump call for budget cuts, the Department of Energy's Office of Science would lose $900 million, or 20% of its budget. The proposal also calls for deep cuts to the research programs at the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a 5% cut to NASA's earth science budget...
Source: Science Mag.
What is Paris Agreement?
Paris Agreement ("Accord de Paris" in French) is Paris Climate Change Agreement that was held in Paris in October 2016. The agreement of nearly 200 countries consists in cutting their carbon emissions to mitigate the global warming. However, President Trump is threatening to pull out of the agreement...
