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Peruvian Amazon Art & Craft Exhibition | Tribus Vivas Dermafilia San Francisco CA
Peruvian Amazon Art & Craft Exhibition
Date: Saturday,
December 12, 2009 Time: 6:30pm - 9:00pm Location: Tribus Vivas -
Dermafilia, 3382 18TH St Mission, San Francisco, California
Village
Earth presents a Peruvian Amazon Art & Craft Exhibition in support of our
work with indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon. Learn about Village
Earth's recent collaboration with Project Tupa of Free Radio Berkeley to set up
community-based radio stations in the Peruvian Amazon.
Press Release:
The Amazon basin in Peru is quickly being sold off to oil companies,
industrial-scale agricultural production, and loggers. “I have been looking for
a way that we indigenous peoples can protect our lands,” said Shipibo artist
Nixon Yuimachi from the native community of San Francisco in the central
Peruvian Amazon. Nixon has been selling his art in the United States to raise
money for his jungle preserve in the Peruvian Amazon.
With current
concerns about global warming, international awareness is increasing that
conservation and sustainability initiatives are extremely important in the
Amazon since it is an area of global environmental importance for its roles in
mitigating climate change. “Just now people in other parts of the world are
starting to understand what we indigenous peoples have seen coming for many
years with the destruction of the Amazon,” said Nixon.
Nixon and his
family, with the support of their community, have set aside 22 acres of forested
land to begin a conservation area called Yoina Baon Nii” (‘The Refuge of the
Animals’ in the Shipibo language). There they hope to protect endangered
Amazonian animal and plant species. They hope that this can generate income for
the community through eco-tourism, but also protect their cultural heritage
which is tied to their environment.
Through the sale of his art and
crafts, Nixon is slowly raising the money for Yoina Baon Nii”. Nixon paints in a
unique Shipibo painting style called Visioning Painting, which has a similar
look to other indigenous styles of painting around the world with the use of
colorful dots. He paints his ayahuasca (a psychotropic vine) visions that are
full of Shipibo cultural symbolism and often tell important Shipibo histories
and legends. He also paints Amazon landscapes that, too, are depictions of
Shipibo stories passed down through the generations. When in the Amazon, Nixon
uses natural paints and dyes that are found in different plants to make his
paintings. As well, the other crafts he brings with him are all handmade and
many use natural materials such as seeds, fish scales and bones. He hopes that
by sharing his art around the world more people can learn about the Amazon, his
culture and their stories.
Nixon is offering the San Francisco community
an opportunity to be a part of this important effort through the exhibition and
sale of his art and other crafts from the Peruvian Amazon. There will also be a
short presentation about Shipibo culture and art, and environmental challenges
and conservation in the Amazon. Saturday, December 12, 6:30-9:00pm. Proceeds
from the sale of his arts and crafts will go to support his conservation
efforts. The event will be held in the Tribus Vivas – Dermafilia Studio at 3382
18TH St Mission in San Francisco.
Tribus Vivas - Dermafilia
SF 3382 18th Street San Francisco, CA Phone: (415)
252-7098
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