Podcast appearances and mentions of Norma I Quintana

This week Anu Anand hears from artists highlighting climate change in their work. Pakistan has seen its worst flooding in years. One artist who's addressing the climate issues facing the country in an unusual format is Taqi Shaheen. Along with fellow artist Sara Khan Pathan, he's designed an environmental strategy boardgame called Machi Wachi, set around the island of Bhit, near Karachi. ‘Megafires' have become a regular phenomenon in the US State of California. A new exhibition called Fire Transforms brings together artists from across the region, responding to the changing climate. Linda Gass uses her textile art to create a birds' eye view of changing landscapes and the preciousness of water. Documentary photographer Norma I Quintana lost her home and her studio in the Napa wine country fires in October 2017. She's been using the charred objects found in the ruins to tell the story of that experience as she explained to Andrea Kidd. The experimental orchestra, The Manchester Collective, has teamed up with the BAFTA award-winning sound recordist Chris Watson and his long-term collaborator Spanish filmmaker Carlos Casas to perform the piece Weather, by US composer Michael Gordon. It's now been reinterpreted by the Collective and includes an immersive film and soundscape of some of the habitats impacted by rising temperatures and sea levels. Anna Bailey went to a rehearsal to find out more. Artists and writers from 28 countries have come together for a project called the World Weather Network. They've created a series of ‘weather stations' and for the next year, they'll be sharing their reports through art. One of the people taking part is visual artist Derek Tumala from the Philippines. He tells us about his live, interactive project called Tropical Climate Forensics. (Image credit: Getty)

“Art is actually a lifeline…When presented in conjunction with important ideas, art can change us inside. It changes the way we see, think, feel, and the way that we talk about things that are important to us.” -Rina Faletti, PhD   Episode Description:  When a disaster strikes, the conversation typically focuses on what has been lost: homes, livelihoods, and even lives. The emotional and spiritual toll of a disaster can be harder to recognize, but it is every bit as important. But in times like these, it's crucial to remember that humans are creative creatures, and we have access to a wonderful tool that can help us heal: ART. As survivors work to rebuild their homes and their lives, art ​can help them feel​ less alone by providing an opportunity for shared experience and expression. Art teaches them to see things differently—to notice details, to find beauty where they may not have seen it before, and to connect with their community and themselves. Art-Responds was curated by Dr. Rina Faletti with the same vision. As the importance of art and community became apparent in disaster recovery, Dr. Faletti began gathering artist-responders that are also active in making this vision possible: Oscar Aguilar Olea, Julia Crane, Andrea Dale, Lowell Downey, Laura Resen, Jeff Frost, Linda Gass, Edmund Ian Grant, Norma I. Quintana, Kristi Rene, and Brian Fies who is also our guest in Season 3 Episode 6. As they strive to bring art into disaster recovery, they also open the opportunity for deeper conversations on community engagement, disaster preparedness, and recovery.    Tune in as Dr. Faletti discusses how important it is to introduce art as one of the first responses to recovery and not the last, what gathering artist-responders and putting together an exhibit is like, the unifying and healing power of art, and the importance of storytelling in recovery.  Connect with After The Fire USA:  Website: https://afterthefireusa.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RebuildNorthBay/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfterTheFireUSA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afterthefireusa/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/atf3r YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuTefxZgWUJkDVoZGZQpxgQ Highlights: 03:04: Fire Goes Where Water Flows 12:25: We are Reflections of Nature 17:56: Gathering Artist-Responders Together 23:15: The Role of Art in Recovery 28:46: Why Art Should be on the Front of Recovery 37:18: Art Brings Community Together 42:00: The Unifying Power of Art  45:45: Meet the Artist-Responders  

Norma is a fine art photographer whose home—including her art collection, her own analog work, and her camera collection—burned in the Napa fires of 2017. In this episode we discuss the fire and her intimate work.

Norma I. Quintana is an American photographer and educator working in the tradition of social documentary. Using a medium format camera, she photographs with film, primarily in black and white using available light. Quintana's documentary project, Circus: A Traveling Life was published as a monograph by Damiani Editore, Bologna, Italy, and distributed by D.A.P. Artbook Catalog in 2014. Her series Forage from Fire is currently being exhibited at the California Museum of Photography at the University of California Riverside. After surviving the devastating Atlas Peak wildfire in October 2017, she began the Forage from Fire series that was featured in a solo exhibition at SF Camerawork in October 2018. She is a founding member of the San Francisco Bay Area non-profit PhotoAlliance. Quintana is presently working on her portrait series, Forget Me Not / Recuerdos based on family photographs from Puerto Rico. She has lectured nationally at major universities, including art residencies at Penn State and American University in Washington D.C. Quintana lives in California with her family. She can be found on Instagram at @normaiquintana. Her website is http://www.normaiquintana.com.

Hello again! Another two weeks passes……I hope that you are all doing well and are still coping during this very peculiar time. I think it’s a real struggle for people to get a grasp of what they should be doing when they can’t get out and do the thing they do. Me included, but I’ve decided to not concern myself with what I should be doing, and just do. Outerfocus is getting the attention it deserves with new conversations and a BloG! with features and photo influences, and we are enjoying asking photographers, “What’s in yer bag?” over on the OF Youtube channel. Whe’re also just starting to get some ideas together for an Outerfocus Live! Freedom Party - with a live recording, an exhibition of your photography and the usual pizza and beer. More details on this coming soon. This week we have doozy. I recently recorded a conversation with the very wonderful, Norma I. Quintana. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did. © Norma I. Quintana Tiny Contortionist, CIRCUS series, 2001Norma is a fine art photographer and educator who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her first monograph, CIRCUS: A Traveling Life was published by Damiani, Italy in 2014. It chronicles a ten-year collaboration between Quintana and an American, traveling.........Full show notes @ - https://www.outerfocuspodcast.com/podcast/2020/5/14/outerfocus-58-norma-i-quintanaSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/outerfocuspodcast)