The Imburana project is born of the desire to save a single tree of the species Commiphora leptophloeos, which had been threatened with being cut down, slaughtered. “When an Imburana de cambão is brought down, a key link in the food chain of La Caatingal is broken.”
In the forest of my village
There is wood, honey, everything
In the forest of my village
There is wood, honey, everything
The forest of my village
Was blessed by Jesus Christ
The forest of my village
Was blessed by Jesus Christ
(The words of a song of the Toré )
The imburana is particularly sought after by bees, who create colonies in the hollow of the tree and these trees are harder and harder to find in the semi-arid State of Pernambuco because of illegal logging. Confronted with this danger of disappearance, beekeepers are fighting against the logging of this species in the name of the protection of the natural heritage. Beekeepers, with the support of researchers and craftsmen believe that declaring it a protected species might lessen the logging of the Imburana de cambão.
While accompanying some of my relatives in their negotiations for the purchase of land, I realized that the cutting down of this particular tree was immanent, since this Imburana de cambão was to be cut down to make a bench as a condition for the sale of the land. Since imburana is a soft wood, it is sought after for making furniture, doors, sculptures of saints and carrancas (protective figureheads for boats, made of wood, or clay), and even contemporary art objects.
This plot of land, extending 240m to the north x 240m to the south x 77m to the east x 100m to the west, is situated in Logrador, the indigenous land of the Atikum-Umã people, of whom I am a descendent, in the municipality of Carnaubeira da Penha, in the State of Pernambuco, where I was born. This plot (a soil analysis of which will be necessary) is traversed by a stream, and besides the imburana, includes a great variety of other plant species such as imbuzeiro (which produces the imbu fruit), braúna, aroeira (the pepper tree), jurema (from which a beverage is made), pau-ferro, quixabeira, faveleira (a bush with oil producing seeds) favela de galinha, canafista, espinheiro (hawthorn), pines, mameleiro, mandacaru (a type of cactus), xique-xique (another type of cactus), catingueira, cansanção, etc.
I was in the middle of the forest
I was gathering honey
I was in the middle of the forest
I was gathering honey
It was then, that I noticed I was surrounded
By the Indians of Canindé
It was then, that I noticed I was surrounded
By the Indians of Canindé
I cut the wood and I gather the honey
And the Caninbés are finished
I cut the wood and I gather the honey
And the Caninbés are finished
(Words of a song of the Toré)
In a period of aggressive deforestation for agro-business and for the production of charcoal, the initiative to preserve the natural heritage of the Pernambuco Caatinga from the Sertão is meant to serve as a pointed example.
Lucy Lippard wrote that one cannot underestimate the reconstructive potential of an art practice which restores and reveals the meanings of a place by those who live there, thus furnishing alternatives to the voracious visions of nature of the dominant culture. This art, which arises outside conventional locales, instead of merely occupying, incorporates within it people and economic and topographic forces and is markedly more specific than so-called “site specific” art. This practice is an integral part of the construction of a critique of what has already been institutionalized, including journalistic efforts at critique. It causes places to mean more for those who live there or who spend time there.
I have taken the initiative of negotiating to acquire this plot of land on the express condition of the protection of this Imburana. Once this was accomplished, I began a campaign to solicit donations to purchase this plot and save this tree as an artist’s project named after this tree and which necessitates its due protection and the safeguarding of its environment. In order to accomplish this, the following steps need to be taken:
1. Creating visibility for this effort as an artist’s project by:
a Mapping, photographing, and cataloguing the flora and fauna, that interact within and outside the physical zone of the project.
b. Publicizing the project in the media and through exhibitions in cultural spaces
2. Maintaining and preserving the ecosystem and preserving the physical space of the project by:
a. Reenforcing the boundaries of the plot of land
b. Conceiving a project space