The Overlooked but the Essential

[annakaur]

Both the documentary and presentation helped to highlight two groups of people that have been marginalized repeatedly throughout the course of history. In the documentary, it was clearly displayed that the Natives of the Amazon, though living in their own homeland, were considered outsiders and an impediment to the prosperity of Brazil’s economy. In the presentation, Monika Fabijanska eloquently depicted women’s unfortunate history in art and their struggle to be noticed. I find it interesting that both of these groups of people can be connected to nature–the Natives to their Amazonian environment and women to ecofeminism. It is truly disheartening to hear President Bolsonaro’s remarks towards the Amazonian environment, something so essential to the health of our already declining planet. In the documentary, it noted that the Amazon provides us with 30% of our world’s carbon. To see the forest as simply something standing in the way of advancing the economy and to compare the Natives of the beautiful ecosystem as savages is unbelievable. Both the forest and the people contribute to enriching the culture and history of Brazil, as well as our planet as a whole–they should be treated with respect. In addition, I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation on ecofeminism. Firstly, I did not even know ecofeminism was a thing, nor did I understand how the two could be related. However, throughout the powerpoint, Ms. Fabijanska’s chosen artworks and explanations helped me to better educate myself on this topic. Our planet, being referred to as Mother Nature, clearly depicts the Earth as feminine. Women, though the minority in the art community, chose to highlight and bring awareness to issues in our own environment through art. My favorite work was “The Memory of Water’ by Betsy Damon. I looked up the artwork on my own to read more about it, and I truly understand the importance of ecofeminism now. Damon used her talent to bring awareness to an ecological issue through a simple photo. Overall, this was a very enriching experience that I was thankful to have been a part of, and I look forward to learning more.

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